The Journal of Edward Newgate
by dorawarrior
Summary: A journal written by Whitebeard from the first time he became a pirate all the way up to the Whitebeard War. Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters. I only own some OCs that may appear in this story.
1. Chapter 1

I've always wanted to write a One Piece Fic....so here goes...

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_Day 1_

_I'm writing this because I'm bored and have nothing to do in my free time. I found this old beat up diary in the kitchens and since no one seems to want it, I might as well put to some use._

_I'm Edward Newgate. I'm eighteen and I'm a pirate. I'm the cabin boy of the Nautica Pirates. Our ship is the Free Willy and our captain is Davy Jones. Apparently that's his real name. He's got a bounty of eighty-nine million berri on his head and apparently has some sort of Devil Fruit power which I don't know about and the others won't tell me._

_Anyway, I ran away from home some eight months ago. My parents were fighting and it got really bad. I couldn't take it anymore and did something I shouldn't have. Anyway, I had to get out of there before the marines could get me._

_I stole a fisherman's boat and sailed east. There were plenty of fish on the boat so I ate well for the first few days until some of them began to go bad. I had to fish for myself from that point onward and I did alright until I nabbed a damn Sea King. Smashed up my boat real bad and got me pretty good too. I managed to kill it by pure luck when I swung the boat's mast right through its throat._

_Anyway, I spend the next few days drifting until I ran into the Nautica Pirates. They took me in and made me their cabin boy. Huh, beats dying. _

_They call me old kid 'cause I got a short white moustache. I just don't get that. The colour's way off from my hair and makes me a lot older than I am and it doesn't help that I'm bigger than most of the other guys. _

_But for pirates, they were real nice, except when they boss me around on deck. But I owe them my life, so it's a small thing. _

_I guess that's all I'll right for now, 'cause I just couldn't think what else to write other than the fact that I'm a pirate now and that there's no turning back for me._

_Oh yeah, even though I listed this entry as Day 1, I've actually been on this ship for nearly three weeks. I wonder if I'll ever bother to write Day 2._

So what you guys think?


	2. Chapter 2

Here's the next chapter...enjoy

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_Day 2_

_Heh, guess I will write Day 2 after all, although it's been two weeks since my first entry._

_During that time I had my first battle as a Nautica Pirate. We were attacked by two marine battleships both headed by a Commodore each. The marines themselves were pretty weak as they couldn't do squat against me. One of the Commodores challenged Captain Jones, but Captain just sent him flying overboard before he could even finish his rant. The funny thing was, captain fell asleep right after that even with the second Commodore charging him. First mate Roy sent him flying overboard._

_We got some good stuff from the ships. I found a nice sword and as the ship rule goes: you keep whatever weapons and artefacts you find. Only gold and money are to be distributed by the Captain._

_Turns out the ships had some good booze and good food on them as well. We had a feast that night and I chugged down an entire barrel of rum. Roy told me I shouldn't drink so much in case the marines show up and I'm too drunk to fight. I just laughed at him and said that the marines were so weak that I could take them on with a hangover._

_Roy sent me flying across the deck for that. I couldn't believe it, he was barely taller than my waist, but he sent me flying with just a punch! And it hurt like hell._

_This was what he said: "Don't get cocky, punk! We're in East Blue, the weakest of the four seas! Only the small fries patrol these waters! We're headed for the Grand Line, where the big boys play! You've never been there, so you have no idea how strong the enemies are over there! You won't survive with that cocky attitude!"_

_I was pissed and drunk enough to try and take on the first mate, but the Captain himself stopped me. Literally stopped me. _

_Of all the people on the ship, only Captain Jones was taller than me, though there were others who were pretty close to my size. But I've beaten people twice my size before, so it shocked me that the Captain stopped me using the strength of just two fingers._

_Just two fingers and I couldn't move an inch._

_Captain said to me: "Calm down, pup. Don't mess with someone who's been to the Grand Line three times and lived to tell the tale. He knows what he's talking about."_

_Then he turned to Roy and said to him: "But don't look down on the enemies in the weaker seas, either. You never know, the ones from the weakest places may be the one capable of defeating the strongest."_

_He walked off and went to drink some wine on the prow._

_I apologised to Roy after that. I was glad when he just laughed it off but then annoyed when he put me on watch duty for the night and cleaning for the next day._

_I think I should try to describe first mate Roy. I mentioned before that he was only slightly taller than my waist, but he is strong. I wouldn't pick a fight with him unless I'm drunk, which I nearly did. He also has a bounty on his head, twenty-eight million berri, I think. He lost his right eye in combat and wears a patch over it. His personality is also the opposite of the Captain's. Captain Jones is always calm, so calm that he never seems to worry about anything. Roy, on the other hand, seems to worry about everything. He worries about money, he worries about ship cleanliness, he worries about crew health, he worries about food supplies and he worries about us. The one thing he doesn't seem to worry about is battle. He just loves it. He fights with a bisento and he's damn good with it too. _

_He also likes to pinch my moustache when bossing me around and kicks me around on deck, just 'cause he can. In retaliation, I could only the one thing that annoys him: rats. I don't know why, but for someone who's strong, he freaks out around rats so much that he winds up kicking a whole in the ship. So whenever he annoys me with more menial labour, I annoy him with rats. He finally found out yesterday that I was the one behind it and sent me flying overboard, but it was worth it._

_Speaking of which, I hid some on his bunk earlier and I think he's found them 'cause I can hear him shrieking right now._

_Now I can hear him screaming for me._

_I gotta run, I'll write next time if I survive the trashing Roy gives me._

......


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the next chap..enjoy

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_Day 3_

_It's been a month or more since my last entry. _

_We spent the whole time sailing towards Loguetown, our last stop before heading for the Grand Line. Other than the usual rat-pranks on Roy, which is getting old, nothing interesting happened on the journey._

_Until we got to Loguetown. _

_Captain docked the ship on an isolated part of the island, mainly because the marines probably won't be too thrilled to see a pirate ship enter the port. Anyway, Captain and Roy have been to Loguetown many times before (Captain was actually born here), and allowed the crew some free time around town while he and Roy looked after the Free Willy. _

_Of course, I ended up with the ship cook to get some supplies before I'm allowed to go and have some fun._

_Cook's real name is Loco, but we all just call him Cook. He only cooks meat but knows how to use all sorts of spices and stuff that make it taste different and just as good as before. If you don't like his cooking, he'll beat you into liking it. Trust me, I know. Oh yea, no matter what he cooks, he always adds one 'secret ingredient' which the whole crew knows: Rum._

_Cook's also a great fighter. He's actually pretty even with Roy and apparently even beat Roy once. But that was when he was drunk. The scary thing about Cook is that he's a small man, no taller than my waist but he fights like some rabid wolf. He gets even stronger and savage when drunk, like during the battle with marines I mentioned in the last entry, he just smacked twenty marines around before falling asleep on deck._

_Anyway, Cook bought a lot of dried meat and spices and made me carry them all. Why else would he want me to come along? He was trying to beat down some tough butcher for some ribs when I lost interest and looked around._

_I saw a girl. A very pretty one at that. She saw me staring at her and ran off. Sigh, what a shame. I would've liked to get to know her better. Who am I kidding? I just wanted to get in her pants, or panties. _

_Anyway, while I was staring, some punk ran into me and made me drop all the meat I was carrying. Instead of apologising, he told me to watch where I was going. I wasn't going to take any of that so I ended up shouting at him and the bastard had the nerve to shout back at me!_

_It went something like this:_

_Me: "You bumped into me first, asshole!"_

_Him: "No, you bumped into me first, ape!"_

"_Who're you calling an ape, midget!?"_

"_Who're you calling a midget, gorilla!?"_

"_Who're you calling a gorilla, freaky moustache!?"_

"_Hah! That's rich, coming from the guy with the white moustache of an old man! How old are you? A hundred?"_

"_I'm eighteen, you blind bastard!"_

"_More like eighty! What should I call you? Gramps? Grandpa? How about Pops?"_

"_THAT IS IT!"_

_I swung out and caught the bastard in the face. I sent him flying through a wall. Satisfied, I was about to turn and pick up the meat when a piano flew out the hole in the wall and struck me, sending me flying down the street, bowling people over as I went._

_I got up and saw that the bastard was standing and didn't seem to be too affected by the punch I threw at him earlier, which somewhat odd since I struck him at full strength. He was also grinning at me fiercely. The sight of his grin just made me snap._

"_I'll wipe that stupid grin off your face!" I shouted, charging at him._

"_I'll rip that stupid white moustache off yours!" he shouted back, also charging._

_We had a brutal fight which wrecked the market district. But though we went all-out, we were evenly matched. Though still pissed, I was actually enjoying the fight and the grin on the bastard's face told me that he was enjoying it too._

_Both of us were pretty beat up, but we both went for one final, deciding blow._

_Until Cook stopped us both by clubbing us both over the head with a huge piece of meat._

"_You two idiots trying to bring the marines down on us here!?" he shouted at the both of us._

_Then to me, he continued: "I turn my back on you for a minute and you wind up wrecking up the market and ruining my meat!"_

"_We've been fighting for nearly twenty minutes!" I retorted defensively. "It's not my fault you didn't notice!"_

"_Are you talking back to me?" Cook snarled, cuffing me on the head. "Don't forget that we're pirates and while we can whoop the marines' asses, we should avoid trouble when we can!"_

"_You're a pirate?" the bastard I just fought suddenly spoke up._

"_Yeah, I am," I said._

"_Heh, I'm a pirate too," the bastard said, grinning proudly. "Or I will be, when I can get a boat."_

"_Bah, an idiot like you doesn't have what it takes to be a pirate," I said. "But you're pretty tough anyway, what's your name?"_

_The bastard's grin just widened. _

"_I'm Gol D. Roger," he said. "Remember the name, 'cause I'm the guy who'll conquer the Grand Line!"_

_Most people would've laughed if they heard that and I would've been one of them. But for some reason, when that punk said it, something inside me felt that he just might be able to do that. But something else inside me also burned with the desire to beat that guy._

_Before I knew it, I was speaking._

"_I'm Edward Newgate," I said. "If there's anyone who'll conquer the Grand Line, it's going to be me!"_

_The bastard's grin got even wider._

"_It's a challenge then," he said._

_I don't know why, but I felt an odd mix of rivalry and kinship with that guy. But I'll be damned if I told him that. _

_The two of us just glared at each other until Cook cuffed me on the head again and shoved the meat into my arms and started herding me off to the ship before the marines got to the market._

_Captain Jones laughed his ass off when Cook told him about the fight. Roy wasn't too happy and barred me from going back into town. But I couldn't care less by then._

_Anyway, it was later in the night (I was on watch duty again) that I was just watching the sky, trying to count the stars when Captain joined me on deck._

"_Do you really believed what you said?" he asked me._

_I'm no fool; I knew he was talking about my claim that I'll conquer the Grand Line._

"_Yes," was all I said. If that bastard with the stupid grin thinks he can do it, then I sure as hell can._

_Captain just laughed and walked off but stopped halfway._

"_If you really believe it, then you'll be able to do it," he said before going back to his quarters._

_Captain didn't laugh, didn't scoff or didn't tell me I couldn't do it. What he said really moved me. _

_I'll remember his words._

_I'll also remember that bastard. My body's still aching from the fight with him._

_Gol D. Roger._

_I've got a feeling that I'll run into him again, and I'll beat the crap out of him when I do._

_

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next chap coming soon_


	4. Chapter 4

This chap is more of a filler...I'll make the next more interesting...

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_Day 4_

_As I'm writing this, it's already our fifth day sailing in the Grand Line. _

_The first thing that really made this place truly unique was Reverse Mountain. How many mountains do you know have water flowing UP instead of down? It was insane! We spent the whole ride upwards stopping Willy from crashing into the mountain walls. Then when we reached the top we just dashed down at top speed. _

_Most of the other new guys were shrieking in fear, but it was really exciting for me. Feels a bit like being in fight. The blood's racing and the heart's pounding, I was laughing I think. The older crew members were laughing too._

_After we reached the bottom of the mountain, Willy was pretty banged-up. Luckily, there was a lighthouse nearby and the owner let us stay there while we repaired our ship._

_The lighthouse keeper's name is Crocus. Apparently he's been looking after the lighthouse for quite some time. He has this whale that lives near him called Laboon. Apparently the whale's been with him for a few years, waiting for some pirates to come and meet him._

_The repairs took us two months to finish. I know I said we've been sailing the Grand Line for five days, but we spent the first two months here repairing Willy. But enough about that._

_Grand Line is just…different. Normal compasses don't work here, we navigate by these special things called Log Posts. I don't know how they work, but they're supposed to get us to the next island and lead us to the next, so I guess that's all I need to know. The weather for the first few days was totally random. It snowed for one minute before it became hot followed by a torrent of rain._

_Oh, guess what, our first day after we left Crocus's place we ran into a damn Sea King. This one was a hundred times bigger than Willy and a lot more savage than the one I fought back in East Blue. Captain took care of it. That's the first time I've seen him use his Devil Fruit power. Turns out he ate a Logia called the Mizu Mizu No Mi. He could use water based attacks and we were surrounded with it. He just turned himself into a tsunami and blew the Sea King away, but Roy and I had to fish him out of the sea after that_

_The marines here are stronger too. We ran into a ship on our second day of sailing and they just started blasting their cannons at us. I had to fight seriously against them. But we won and that's all that matters. The next two days were calm aside from attacks by a few sea monsters. _

_Right now, we're docked at an island called Whiskey Peak and it's got these huge cacti-like hills on it. But there's no one living here, none that I can see anyway. Captain gave us a break so I got some time to write here now._

_So far, my time in Grand Line has been pretty relaxed, but Roy and Cook both warned me not to get complacent, that anything can happen here. I guess I should listen to them._

_Anyway, our next stop is this island called Little Garden. What a prissy name for an island. I want a little bit of action for crying out loud!_

_That's it for now. _

_Newgate out._


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the next chap...I think you'll find a familiar character here....

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_Day 5_

_I will never, ever look down on Little Garden ever again._

_This place is just filled with dinosaurs and all kinds of other beasts. I wanted some action and I got it. We wound up fighting off a bunch of raptors and a T-Rex right on our first night on the island. Captain and our swordsman, Goji had a competition to see who could kill more raptors. We ate well that night._

_The next day, Goji, two other new guys and I went to explore the island. Amidst fighting the monsters and running away from some of the other bigger ones, it was sort of a bonding experience for us._

_Goji is an old man who's been a swordsman from the day he was born. He was born in Grand Line but grew up in North Blue. He's bald and wears nothing on his upper body but just wears a pair of worn out slacks. One thing that's scary about him is that he's got scars all over his damn old body. There's five crisscrossing on his head, four across his left eye and one on the other. There's two right under his nose, making it look like some fleshy moustache. His chest is a patchwork of scars and his got six running in parallel on his back. His legs also has plenty, including one that looks like jagged lightning running down his right shin._

_I asked him about his scars._

_This was what he told me._

"_I've been to all four corners of the sea, kid. I've fought in five civil wars in five different countries. I've been lost in over ten different jungles, though I've never been here before. I've been all over and the one thing I've seen that's constant no matter where you go, is that people fight. People fight each other for being different. People fight each other over women and drink. Some people fight just because they feel like it. I've fought for countless reasons: for money, in anger, in hate and to protect. These scars are my souvenirs from those battles. They remind me that after eighty years of living, humans are just fucked up. I got this scars from some of the strongest swordsmen in my day, and they were all just fucked up. They craved blood, they loved killing, they killed for money and they can't live without fighting. They were fucked up before I killed them and I'm just as fucked up for killing them."_

_The old man didn't say anything after that. The four of us just walked on in the forest. The other two guys were Donny and Loki. Donny was a little guy who was twitchy and scared of everything, but could run like the wind (of course, he runs away from battle so that's not really a good attribute). Loki is a quiet, tall, lean guy. He's got this midnight blue hair the he ties back in a ponytail and he's pretty sharp with a gun. _

_Except for Goji after his talk, the rest of us spent time talking while we were walking._

_Until a volcano erupted nearby._

_Donny nearly pissed in his pants and the rest of us just laughed at him._

_Until we saw an incredible sight. There were two giants fighting each other. With each strike, they made the entire island shake, each step they took felled trees and all the animals fled the fury of their battle. They both fought to a stalemate and laughed. They talked for awhile before going their separate ways._

_I was pumped up and wanted to meet those giants. So I ran after one of them. Goji followed me but Donny and Loki had had enough and went back to the ship._

_When I caught up with the giant, he seemed amused by my enthusiasm about his fight. He introduced himself as Dorry and explained that he and the other giant, Broggy had been fighting each other for nearly four decades over the issue of whose prized prey had been bigger. Neither of them would go home to their homeland Elbaf until there was a winner. I was a bit disappointed by the reason and said so._

_Dorry seemed to find this funny and laughed his ass off at me. I asked him why would he bother to fight over such a small matter for so long._

_He just grinned at me and the words he said next really moved me._

"_Whose kill was bigger doesn't really matter to us, kid," he said. "What matters is that we both won't back down. We're not fighting over a misunderstanding or an argument or whatever you want to call it. We're fighting for what matters to us: Our pride!"_

_I just thought his words over. All of a sudden, I was reminded of my fight with that punk, Roger. Our fight in Loguetown could have been avoided had one of us just backed down. But for the sake of our pride, we hadn't and we were willing to fight for it. I understood what Dorry was talking about._

_Goji asked Dorry how long it would take for the Log Post to set in Little Garden. I was both alarmed and relieved when Dorry answered it would take a year. I was alarmed because it would take so long and relieved I would get to see more of Dorry and Broggy's gigantic battles._

_When we both were about to leave, Dorry told us to come and visit him again. He told us it got a little lonely from time to time and he wouldn't mind the company._

_I told him I would definitely be back since we had a year to spend on this island._

_I'd definitely go back. There's nothing else to do other than kill dinosaurs here anyway._

_Newgate out._


	6. Chapter 6

A big time leap from the previous chap...just so you guys know...

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_Day 6_

_Its been nearly a year, and I've been picking up my pen and putting it down again without writing anything more times than I can count during that time. _

_Until now._

_The navigator said that the Log-Post should be set in a week and we're all preparing to leave._

_The year has been both interesting and dull._

_Dull because hunting dinosaurs and other monsters in Little Garden, while kind of tough at first, became routine. Although, I think I've grown stronger from fighting those things. _

_It's also been interesting because of Dorry and Broggy. The crew had taken to watching the two giants do battle and cheering them on. It's crazy; those two couldn't beat each other! Another interesting is that both of them are actually pretty good friends when they're not beating the hell out of each other._

_We've all had a lot of feasts and partying with those two giants to pass the time. I've noticed that the caves they live in don't look like rock caves; they look more like giant skeletons of some kind of super-large Sea Kings. But that's probably just my imagination. _

_Anyway, I found something unusual about a week ago. I found a Devil Fruit, something hard to find even in a unique place like Little Garden. _

_I'm looking at it even as I write this. The colour is brown, earth-like; it's got these weird swirls all around it. I asked Captain what I should do with it. He told me that I could either eat it and lose the ability to swim forever or sell it in a market for a ridiculously high price. Either way, I'm not sure what to do with it. I keep thinking about Captain's Logia, how easily he defeated a Sea King with it but I also remember how Roy and I had to fish him out when he fell into the water. I'm not sure if I'm willing to take that risk just yet. Either way, Captain said that since I've found it, its mine and I can do whatever I want with it and no one can take it away from me without my permission. Heh, we're pirates and we don't need permission to do whatever we want. The older crew members don't seem to be too interested in it but I've already had to beat up a few of the newer members who tried to steal it from me._

_On another note, my moustache is now a source of laughter from my crewmates. It's grown longer during the past year and now looks like a crescent moon or "smiley" as Roy likes to call it. I don't know but I kind of like it, just wish it wasn't white, it makes me look like a grandpa. _

_During the year, we lost five crewmates. One of them was Donny. Poor guy was ripped apart by raptors before we could save him. The other four guys were newbies and were sick of camping out in Little Garden during the year and tried to mutiny against the Captain. _

_Jones is normally a good-humoured man and while he does beat us up from time to time to put us in line, he's never caused any long lasting injuries. But this is the first time I've seen him strike down a man in cold blood. No hesitation at all. The moment those fools raised their weapon against him, he just struck them all down. They didn't stand a chance._

_This was what he said after he killed them._

"_We're pirates. Never forget that. Some people may accept us, but most of the time, they're against us. All we've got out here is each other. We watch each other's backs! I don't care if you fool around, make fun of me, pull pranks on me, get into a fight…I can forgive all that. The one thing I can never forgive is this…turning on a nakama. If you ever raise your hand against each other to hurt, to kill and betray…I will not hesitate to kill you! Is that understood?"_

_I've never seen Captain Jones look so angry. When I saw him that way, it just sent chills up my spines. _

_Another thing, I noticed that some of our crewmates passed out when he was talking, I don't_

_Captain's calling us all on deck now._

_I'll finish that part off later._

_And...it was my birthday yesterday...Mom...are you thinking about me??_

WWW

How was it??


	7. Chapter 7

Next chap...enjoy

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_Day 7_

_Why do I even use "Day" to mark my entries? I don't even write in this damn journal on a daily basis. Maybe I should start using "Entry" instead._

_Dorry and Broggy saw us off with a hearty goodbye. We left them some rum as a parting gift and they wanted to give us meat from two Sea Kings they killed. But we couldn't fit it all on our ship and we ended up delaying our departure for the day so that we could have a big barbecue with them. They're really nice guys; I hope I'll see them again someday._

_Anyway, after sailing for a period of time I could no longer bother to measure. We got to a frozen wasteland of a country called Drum. After the warm, humid atmosphere at Little Garden, the icy, arid environment of Drum was a little bit of a shock._

_Something unusual happened here. When we docked our ship, we did so away from the towns so that we could avoid drawing attention to ourselves. But I guess someone on watch must have spotted us anyway. That's nothing unusual. As always, when spotted, we greeted by a group of the soldiers, still nothing unusual. What was unusual was that the King of Drum was with his soldiers._

_He asked us if our intentions were peaceful or hostile. He said if peaceful, we were welcome to trade with the people as long as we didn't cause any trouble. If hostile, he assured us that there was nothing to loot in his kingdom. _

_I guess it is kind of nice to be able to negotiate with local authority for a change instead of the usual guns-blazing-cannons-blowing-kicking-ass scenario. Its only now, as I write this I realised why the King allowed trade with non-hostile pirates despite the World Government's strict anti-piracy stance. Drum doesn't have much to begin with, so the people have to make a living somehow. _

_Even if it means dealing with people like us._

_Of course Captain Jones told the King that we were only here to stock up our supplies and move on and that we won't cause trouble as long as we are left alone._

_So a few of us headed in to town to buy supplies._

_Even with some fur coats on, this damn country still manages to make my moustache droop. It's just too damn cold. Same goes for the people here, though I can't really blame them. Who'd want to be chummy with a pirate?_

_After I helped Cook bring the supplies back, Goji asked me to follow him along to the bar. He told me that he wanted to see someone he hadn't seen in a long time._

_The thought of rum was enticing so I agreed. The reception we got at the bar was as cold as the weather, but the rum more than made up for it. Goji and I just drank quietly while we waited for whoever the old man was waiting for._

_Soon enough, we heard a weird cackle at the bar's entrance._

_The people in the bar had an odd reaction to the cackle. Where they were just eyeballing us with mistrust before, they seemed to grow nervous at this newcomer. The barkeeper even told the newcomer not to break anything and just leave the bar in peace._

_I got a good look at her._

_She was pretty tall for a woman, almost as tall as Goji who was still around two feet shorter than me. But she looked to be about as old as Goji. But while the old man carried himself with a slight stoop, this old woman stood straight, which is kinda freaky if you consider her age, which I found out painfully later on. But what's even creepier was that she was dressed up in clothing more suited for a pretty young girl (she even had her navel exposed for crying out loud), but she somehow pulls off that witch aura. Something about her just made my skin crawl. _

"_Is that how you brats greet a lady?" the old woman cackled in regards to the barkeeper's request._

"_How could you even call yourself a lady at your age?" the barkeeper snapped._

"_Eh? You want the secret to my youth?" the old woman asked as she propped herself beside Goji._

"…_never mind. Forget I said anything," the barkeeper said in exasperation._

_The old woman popped open a bottle that I'd just noticed she carried with her and gulped down its contents. I couldn't help but think 'eye of a newt' as I watched her drink. Suddenly, I thought that this might be the person Goji wanted to see._

_I was right._

"_Kureha," said Goji without looking up. "Nice to see you haven't changed at all."_

_The old woman cackled. "I see that you're still a sour-faced prune, Goji."_

"_After fighting in five wars, you'd hardly have any reason to smile," answered Goji, scowling._

"_Oh? Seeing me again is not a good reason to smile?" cackled Kureha, raising an eyebrow._

_I saw something that made my jaw drop._

_Goji's scowl vanished, only to be replaced by a smile. Not the sick, sadistic smile he reserves for battle. It wasn't the cynical smile we're all used to. It was a genuinely warm smile._

"_You're probably the only worth smiling about to me, Kureha," said Goji in an almost tender voice that made my jaw dropped even farther._

_Apparently that got Kureha's attention. _

"_What's the matter, brat?" she asked, cackling. "Never seen the old prune smile before?"_

_I shook my head to clear it before retorting: "I'm not a brat, and you ain't that young, ma'am."_

_The old woman's eyebrow twitched at that._

"_Well aren't you the little smart-mouth?" she cackled. "What's a big kid like you with a smiley white moustache walking around with an old soldier for?"_

_I bristled a little at the description._

"_I could ask you the same thing," I answered. "What's an old woman like you prancing around in tight clothing for?_

_Before I knew it, the old woman's foot crashed into my jaw and sent me flying to the floor. Before I could even blink, her foot was right at my throat, keeping me pinned down._

"_I'm only 80 you little brat," she snarled. "I can still show some skin if I want to. And you should show a little respect to your elders."_

_I was just too stunned to respond though I'm still not sure it was because she knocked me down or the fact that she thinks 80 is still young._

_She removed her foot and let me stand back up._

"_You got some spirit there, brat," she cackled, taking another gulp from her bottle. "You got a name?"_

_I told her._

"_Edward Newgate, eh?" she said, raising an eyebrow and gave me a sharp look. _

_I don't know why, but something about her old but still sharp eyes gave me the feeling like I was being analysed or read or…something._

"_I got a feeling you're going to be someone…who's going to be somebody," she said in an almost spooky voice. "If you live long enough that is."_

_At this, Goji, who had been watching with mild interest, snorted._

"_This kid, being somebody?" he said sceptically. "He got taken down by an old lady and you think he's going to be somebody?"_

_I flushed with embarrassment at the insult, but Kureha just laughed and smacked the old man on the head._

"_Don't be so cynical, you old prune," she cackled before frowning. "Did you just describe me as 'an old lady'?"_

_Goji gave her one of those rare warm smiles that made me want to puke._

"_You'll always be young to me, Kureha," he said._

_Kureha cackled and took Goji by the arm. "Why don't you come and prove to me that you mean that?"_

_Goji's smiled widened, to my horror._

"_Gladly," he said._

_My jaw dropped open yet again._

_Kureha noticed and gave me an evil grin._

"_What we're about to do is only for mature audiences, but you can come and watch if you want to."_

_I took my rum and ran back to the ship as fast as I could._

_My mind is still racing about what she said. I mean, what she said before she said…I mean, when she said that she had the feeling I was going to be somebody._

_I've heard about people who've lived a long live normally have some sort of intuition about the future of younger people. _

_I wonder if she's right?_

_And now I've got this nasty mental image of her and Goji…_

_Ugh. That's just scary._

_

* * *

...what'cha think??_


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter is dedicated to Goji and Kureha...don't worry, no nasty descriptions...

* * *

_Day 8_

_Goji spent the rest of yesterday and most of today with Kureha. It still makes me queasy just thinking about whatever…they're doing._

_Apparent Roy and Captain knew about this whole thing between Goji and Kureha. Roy fondly calls it their "unholy union". I got another word for it: "unspeakable". Captain tells me that he never wants to think about it, but it was hard not to._

_I know how he feels._

_Anyway, Goji came back about four hours ago, around after sundown. Captain told him that since Goji didn't seem to be exhausted from…whatever he's been doing, Goji can keep watch._

_I tried to get some sleep, I really did. But my mind was too disturbed. Goji came back looking really cheerful and he was actually singing to himself while he kept watch._

_Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and got on the deck to talk to the old man._

_He didn't even acknowledge me when I was standing next to him, he just started whistling instead._

_I finally spoke up._

"_So…you and her?"_

_Goji just looked up at me with amusement. _

"_I'm a man, she's a woman. We both have needs that only WE can give each other," he said._

_I cringed at the description._

"_I just have a hard time imagining the two of you…" I began, but Goji poked me hard in the gut with his sword's scabbard. _

"_That's my woman you're talking about, pup," he said. "Show some respect."_

"_I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to…"_

"_Newgate," he said suddenly._

_I was so startled by his sudden use of my name that I fell silent._

"_Look at me," Goji said. "I'm an old, battle-scarred man. No woman, not even those in the brothels would want me. I may live for battle, but I'm still a man with other needs. I'm not talking about random, empty shagging. If that is what I wanted, I could just force any woman into doing that. But that's not what I want. I just want a connection, something meaningful, something that can make this old body of mine feel young again and something I can hold on to on a cold night on the sea. It's the same with Kureha, despite her vanity, nearly all the men who remembered her youthful beauty are either dead or close to it. It can get pretty lonely for the two of us. So we just…comfort each other. Is wrong for two old people to want that?"_

_I felt ashamed. I only thought how weird it was, not how Goji and Kureha, two people who've seen more of life than I have, just want that sort of comfort._

"_I understand, Goji," I said. "I'm sorry."_

_He just nodded and resumed whistling until I asked another question that popped up in my head._

"_Do you love her?"_

_This time, he was the one who was startled. He considered my question before answering._

"_After all we've seen and been through, I think that love is something that we both don't believe in," answered Goji. "We don't love each other, that much I'm sure. But I definitely care for her. I don't know if she feels the same way about me, but I do care about her."_

_I grunted my acceptance. I'm too young to judge them, so I shouldn't._

"_How did you two met?" I asked._

_Goji is not one for answering questions. He'd normally tell me to shut my trap or knock me on the head with his scabbard. But it seems that talking about Kureha brought out a softer side to this tough old man._

_He told me that the first war he fought in was in drum, when he was nineteen. He had stopped by Drum on the way to Alabasta where he was supposed to start his career as a royal guard for the king. But Drum had been in a civil war then, and he got caught up in it. He was seriously wounded in one battle and would've died if he weren't rescued by a young and beautiful doctor._

_That doctor was Kureha._

_I cringed a little at the description "young" and "beautiful" but I reminded myself that even the old hag had to at least be young once. _

_Anyway, Kureha was a young doctor who just finished her studies. She scared and didn't know what to do with Goji's wounds. Goji told me that she trembled and cried in her fear. Goji told me that he had to reassure her that he wouldn't blame her if he died while she tried to save him. _

_That seemed to calm her down and she treated Goji well. The old man told me that he was back to cutting off enemy heads two weeks later._

_Charming._

_Anyway, Goji told me that he spent the remainder of that war serving as Kureha's bodyguard. They got closer and I don't need to write about what happened after that._

_After the war was over, Goji decided to resume his travels and so did Kureha. They went their separate ways but would always meet back at Drum from time to time. Apparently, Kureha only decided to settle down in Drum just over a decade ago. _

_So that's the story anyway._

_Now that I know that there's more to their relationship that mindless sex, that there's some sort of deep feelings between those two, I can put my mind at ease at least. _

_Anyway, it's getting late now and we're going to set sail for Alabasta tomorrow. So I'd better end today's entry here._

_Oh yes, I used "Day" instead of "Entry", but who gives a damn?_

_

* * *

next chap coming soon..._


	9. Chapter 9

Here's the next entry

* * *

_Day 9_

_It took us nearly a month to reach Alabasta._

_If Drum was a frozen wasteland, then Alabasta a burning wasteland. I could see nothing fields and mountains of sand all over the place. I'm amazed that anyone, much less a civilisation is able to flourish here, though I guess I could say the same from Drum._

_Roy and Goji have been here before while Captain Jones has also never been here before. From what Roy told me that Drum and Alabasta are both extreme opposites. Not only the weather of both countries is the exact opposite of the other, Alabasta has a larger population than Drum, at least a 100 to 1. _

_We weren't planning to head too far into the desert, so we docked at the mouth of a river called the Sandora River. The Captain, Roy, Cook, myself and a few others headed towards a town called Nanohana. _

_The town's pretty big and there were lots of stuff to see. They had this shop that made perfume, another one that made glass from sand and another one that sold these big, smelly animals called camels. But I was more interested in sampling the local brew. I kept pestering Captain and Roy to let me go visit the bar or a restaurant for a quick drink and they finally let me go._

_When I got to the bar, it's called "The Oasis", I saw that its entrance was being flanked by two marines, rookies by the look of them. Both of them were about the same size and they were both as big as I am, only shorter. _

_One of them had a scar across his left eye, he had black hair cut short and was munching on a donut which he had taken out from a box near his feet. He looked bored and grumpy. The other marine stood tall with his hands clasped behind his back. He's got this afro which might have made him look comical if it weren't for his stern expression. His eyes seemed to scrutinise every passer-by through a pair of round glasses he wore._

_As I got closer, I could hear the marine with the donut whining at the other._

"_I don't get it, Sengoku," whined the marine. "I joined because I wanted to kick some pirate ass! I don't want to just stand guard, polish cannon balls, scrub the deck and wash clothes!"_

"_Be quiet, Garp!" barked the one called Sengoku. "We are still rookies, and must accept whatever tasks our superiors give us. That way, we can work our way to the top and become more…"_

_The afro man prattled on, not realising his companion had fallen asleep while biting into a donut. Apparently he noticed the sudden silence, and turned to look._

_What happened next was pretty funny._

_When he found his companion sleeping, his face turned purple and he ground his teeth so hard that I could hear it from where I was standing._

"_Damn it, Garp!" shouted Sengoku. "Wake up! You can't just fall asleep while on duty! You'll get us into trouble again!"_

_The marine called Garp woke up and resumed munching his donut as though nothing had happened._

"_With you nagging every few minutes, it already amazing that I haven't fallen asleep more often," grumbled Garp._

_Sengoku just let out an exasperated sigh. He looked up and suddenly spotted me._

"_Move along, sir," he said politely but firmly. "There's nothing to see here."_

"_Oh, but I was just looking for a drink," I said._

"_I'm sorry, but this establishment is currently being used by the marine Vice-Admirals for an important meeting," answered Sengoku. "I suggest you find a drink elsewhere."_

_This piqued my interest. Why would a bunch of marine Vice-Admirals use a bar as a meeting place? I couldn't help but ask._

_Sengoku shook his head. _

"_I'm sorry sir, but we are not permitted…" he began when Garp interrupted. _

"_They're here because three of the five Royal Shichibukai have been sailing up the Sandora," he said, taking a huge bite out of a donut. "Apparently they've been plundering a few villages along the way."_

"_Garp!" shouted Sengoku with frustration. "We're not supposed to tell anyone about this!"_

_Garp blinked at him for a moment before swallowing._

"_Oh, right," he said. "Forget I said anything, then."_

_Sengoku smacked his forehead._

_I couldn't help it; I just laughed my ass off then. Those two just reminded me of a bickering couple. Sengoku was like the strict housewife and Garp was like the absent-minded husband._

_Sengoku sighed before turning his attention to me._

"_In any case, you'd best be moving along, citizen," he said._

_I chuckled for a moment and would have laughed when Garp spoke up._

"_You're not from around here, are you?" he asked._

_I looked him in the eye and asked him what would give him that idea._

"_Well, you don't talk with same accent as the locals," answered Garp. "You don't look like the locals; you don't seem to know your way around so I just thought you might be a foreigner."_

"_I am," I answered. "Just checking out the sights before moving on."_

"_How old are you anyway?" Garp asked._

"_I'll turn twenty in a few months," I answered._

_Garp whistled. "Heh, I thought you might've been sixty, with that white moustache of yours."_

_I bristled a little at the comment._

_Sengoku shot Garp a reprimanding look._

"_You'll have to forgive Garp, stranger," he said. "Somehow, the fact he's an idiot escaped my superiors when they took him into the Navy."_

"_Speaking of which," interrupted Garp. "You look pretty tough, why don't you join us? You could be a great marine yourself!"_

"_Garp," said Sengoku sharply. "We're not here to recruit people, so hold your tongue."_

_To me, he said: "You'd best be moving along now."_

_I nodded and was about to move one when Garp grinned broadly at me as he waved goodbye._

_That grin reminded me all too much of the punk I met in Loguetown…what was his name again…Roger, that's it. Gol D. Roger._

_Before I knew it, the question slipped out of my mouth._

"_What's your full name?" I asked Garp._

_Garp blinked in surprise for a moment before replying with same grin. _

"_Monkey D. Garp," he answered._

_The name's completely different except for the D. I wonder what does that stand for. I don't know why, but something that initial just gives me a feeling of destiny of sorts. Why do I even use the word "destiny"? What I'm trying say is that so far the two people I've met with D in their names; they just make feel as though they're destined for…something. I'm not sure what, but something._

_Anyway, I'm going off topic._

_I asked Garp if he was related to Roger._

_Garp just blinked again before shaking his head._

_I shrugged and just walked off._

_After the encounter I just lost my interest in drinking and headed back to the ship…just to write this._

_I walked right to bunk and took out this journal and started writing this._

_I need another hobby._

_

* * *

_

Just to make sure we're all on the same page, there are big time gaps between each entry, ranging from days to months and even a year. I was thinking that writing isn't really a pirate's forte...and that it'd be more realistic that way....

next chap coming soon


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next entry...things may start to get interesting from this point onwards.

* * *

_Day 10_

_I'm actually writing this the day after the previous entry. That's an achievement._

_Right now, I'm lying in the ship infirmary. We had a particularly tough battle just a few hours ago._

_We were attacked by four Marine Vice-Admirals while we were sailing up the Sandora river. Apparently, while Captain Jones's bounty is considered to be "average" by Grand Line standards, his reputation warranted a powerful force to come and attack us._

_Four Vice-Admirals._

_They were really strong though I didn't actually cross swords with them due to reasons I'll write down later._

_I guess it's a testament to Captain Jones's own strength that he took on two Vice-Admirals at once and is still capable of fighting them on even footing. One of the Vice-Admirals fighting Jones used a warhammer and actually managed to hit Captain despite his Logia. The other one had a Devil Fruit power as well. Some odd ability where he could go through walls or something from the brief moment I was able to observe the battle. _

_Roy and Goji both took on a Vice-Admiral each, but I didn't have time to see what their abilities were because I ran into two familiar faces. _

_Garp and Sengoku from Nanohana._

_Both their eyes widened in recognition when they saw me._

"_So you were a pirate?" asked Garp pointlessly._

"_Not 'were' a pirate," I answered, raising my sword into a defensive stance. "I AM a pirate!"_

_Sengoku narrowed his eyes at me._

"_Then you die as one," he snarled._

_They both charged at me._

_I have to admit, they're both very strong. While I am by no means a weakling myself, I had to go all out just to keep the fight even. They're both very strong individually, but their teamwork is a real pain to fight against. They both fought with their bare hands and while I got many good hits on them as well, they got a lot of good hits on me as well. I must've stabbed or slashed them both enough times to kill a Sea King but they just kept coming at me._

_Eventually, the Marines retreated. I found out later on that they retreated because Captain Jones managed to defeat both the Vice Admirals._

_Barely._

_I always knew Goji and Roy were strong, but I never realise just how strong they were. They both battled a Vice-Admiral each to a stalemate. I never saw the fight but both Goji and Roy were bloodied and battered. Roy's bisento, nearly twice his own height gleamed crimson in the sunlight. _

_As for my own battled, I managed to battle both Sengoku and Garp to a stalemate. I just stared at the two of them, breathing heavily, my body as bruised and bloody as theirs._

"_Damn it, you fight like a demon," growled Sengoku, spitting blood from his mouth, but I thought I caught a hint of grudging respect in his tone._

"_Same goes for the both of you," I answered, trying to maintain a grip on my sword. In all honesty, if the Marines hadn't called for a retreat then, I don't think I would've survived the battle._

"_I have a feeling you're going to be big trouble someday," said Garp, his grinning face a crimson mask. "You have a name we can attach to a bounty poster?"_

_I stood straight despite the pain wracking my body. I cannot show weakness, not even a hint of it._

"_I am Edward Newgate," I said. "I will conquer Grand Line."_

_Garp helped Sengoku up as they both began to retreat back to their ship. Before they got there, Garp looked over his shoulder at me._

"_Don't die before you conquer Grand Line, Newgate," he said. "Because when you do, I will be the one to capture you."_

_In answer, I just grinned and raised my sword in salute._

_When the Marines were gone, I think I passed out because I suddenly found myself in an infirmary bed. _

_Our ship doctor, Shane was busy treating Captain. Captain was severely wounded and was unconscious. The battle had been that tough._

_Beside me was Roy. He stopped me from getting up._

_What he said next was something I'd never expect to hear from him._

"_You fought well, kid," he said. "I saw you fighting those two powerful rookies. Get some rest, you'll need it."_

"_What about you?" I asked. He had bandages around his abdomen and his arms._

"_Hah!" Roy scoffed. "It was a tough battle, but it'll take more than that to kill me!"_

"_Goji?" I asked._

_Roy just grinned as he wiped his bisento clean. I still find it hard to believe that he could wield a weapon that's nearly twice as long as him with such skill and deadliness. _

"_The old man is already up and about," answered Roy._

"_What about Captain?"_

_Roy's grin vanished._

"_He took some pretty hard hits," he answered. "He'll live, but he won't be able to fight for awhile. I guess one Vice-Admiral was pretty tough to handle, and he took on two at once."_

_I looked over to where Shane was treating Jones. I've never seen Captain so…vulnerable. I remembered what Roy said about the Grand Line being the harshest sea. He's right. Our Captain, with a bounty eighty-nine million beri was strong enough to handle to Vice-Admirals at once. I shuddered to think if it had been an Admiral or if he had to fight another Vice-Admiral as well._

_He might not have…_

_I've been thinking more and more about the Devil Fruit I found in Little Garden. With the prospect of facing even stronger opponents, the thought of having great power to defeat them at the cost of losing the ability to swim seemed pretty reasonable. _

_But I still couldn't bring myself to eat it._

_I love this ship, I love its crew. They're like my family now. Captain is like a father to me, Roy a brother, Goji a grandfather and Cook a grumpy uncle. The thought of losing any one them is…unbearable. _

_If I eat the Devil Fruit, I may gain great power to protect them, but…I still couldn't find it in myself to eat it._

_What should I do?_

_

* * *

next chap coming soon_


	11. Chapter 11

This one's a filler chapter explaining things in Whitebeard's youth

* * *

_Day 11_

_We've been sailing up the Sandora for a day since my last entry._

_Captain regained consciousness and I told him about what Garp said about the three Shichibukai plundering villages further up the Sandora._

_I'd better write here about what Roy told me about the Shichibukai. The Shichibukai are seven pirates whose services the World Government has enlisted in exchange for privileges and the nullification of their bounties. Speaking of which, each Shichibukai has a former bounty at least two times higher than Captain Jones's. _

_I know I wrote somewhere in here before that there were five Shichibukai, that's because two of them got into a serious fight with each other and one killed the other off, but didn't survive the fight. There are only five of them left._

_These are the remaining five, from highest bounty to lowest, according to Roy._

_Loong the Dragon, former bounty: 380, 000, 000 beri._

_The second oldest of the five. He got his position through an unusual way: he demanded it. His strength was such that he slew four Admirals in his time. Apparent he wanted the position because he wanted a peaceful retirement. The World Government didn't have the guts to say no to him._

_Rokai the Black Blade, former bounty: 330, 000, 000 beri._

_He's notorious for defeating five different countries' armada. It took the combine forces of the Marines and other countries to stop him and his crew. That battle ended in a stalemate and out of desperation, the World Government gave him the position so that he'd turn his destructive powers on other pirates._

_Jagar the Ironman, former bounty: 299, 000, 000 beri._

_Got his position after defeating countless other pirates with bounties over a hundred million beri and battled one of the three Demons to a stalemate (more on that later). He's the oldest of the remaining five._

_Toddy the Crimson Razor, former bounty: 240, 000, 000 beri._

_Roy wasn't quite sure what he did. The only thing Roy knew about him is that he used to be a barber._

_Roshan the Blazing Demon, former bounty: 220, 000, 000 beri._

_He's the captain of the Mahindra Pirates, a pirate crew whose numbers are equivalent to that of an armada. He took down many marine bases and slaughtered countless people mercilessly. _

_Knowing these guys' reputation, I sometimes find it hard to believe that the World Government can work alongside them. _

_But Roy explained the reason to me as well._

_The Royal Shichibukai had been formed because of another threat. A threat posed by three pirates and their crew._

_These pirates are called the Three Demons._

_They're dangerous because they roam too close to Mariejoa, the seat of the World Government's power. But the WG can't do anything about it. These three guys are so powerful that they could only set a blockade just to keep them in check._

_Roy doesn't know much about the Three other than their names._

_According to Roy, the Three Demons are:_

_Choo the Lord of Primal Fury._

_Terrence the Blackbeak._

_Greybeard. _

_That last name startled me. That is the alias of Arden Frank, a name known throughout the Four Blues and the Grand Line itself. That man is declared by the WG as the most powerful and dangerous pirate in the world. _

_My mother used to tell me stories of Greybeard to scare me, now that I think about it; he must be one of the strongest old timers out there as well. _

_Anyway, that's all that Roy told me about what he calls the Superpowers in Grand Line._

_We also had a talk about something else._

_Roy tells me that things are just going to get tougher in future and that it's up to us to back Jones up. He also grudgingly admitted that while I'm one of the younger crew members, I've already established myself as one of the most powerful members._

_To hear Roy say that, it just makes my heart swell with pride._

_But I can't let it get to my head; there are other powerful people out there. I can't get cocky._

_

* * *

_Anyone read the latest One Piece chap?? Pops was epic, wasn't he??

I might not update until the next OP chap comes out. I'm just wondering if Oda will give Whitebeard's backstory...if yes...then i'll use that as reference for future chapters...


	12. Chapter 12

Here's the next chap..

* * *

_Day 12_

_Roy is dead._

_Just at the end of the Sandora where it opens up to the sea, we ran into the Shichibukai Toddy._

_The moment he saw us, he and his crew just attacked us without warning._

_He killed nine of our crewmates without even breaking a sweat. He fought with these razors, the kind barbers normally use to shave their customers. Because of his wounds from the previous battle, Captain Jones had passed out earlier and was down in the infirmary._

_I fought the first-mate of Toddy's crew and it was a very tough battle. He had an ability which allowed him to turn his body to stone. It made his hits a lot more painful to endure and made my sword practically useless against him. I broke my sword trying to stab him and he just laughed his ass off. I guess that's what saved me. I just threw all my strength into one punch that sent him flying overboard. _

_Good riddance._

_Then I turned my attention to Toddy. He was a slender, pale man with black hair streaked with white. He was dressed like a professional barber and carried two razors in each hand._

_Even as I watched, nine of my crewmates rushed at him. _

_When they were just inches away from him, I saw Toddy's hands move so quickly that it seemed as though they didn't move at all. But nine crewmates suddenly stilled before collapsing._

_I saw that their throats were slashed and I knew I couldn't do anything to save them. _

_Toddy just casually licked the blood off his razors before turning to look at me._

_I was pretty beat up from battling the first-mate, but I was too angry over the loss of my friends to care about that. I had no weapon, but I stood up straight to face him anyway. _

"_You were pretty lucky to able to defeat my first mate," Toddy said in a surprisingly soft voice. "Are you lucky enough to defeat me?"_

_I just roared and threw a punch at him._

_Looking back, that was a really stupid move. But I was too angry to care, I just wanted to avenge my crewmates, I wanted to kill their killer._

_The Shichibukai just dodged my punch with such incredible speed that I didn't even realise that he slashed my arm and chest several times until I saw the bloody lines on them._

_He just stood back, looking at me with curiosity._

_From his slashes, I knew he was way weaker than I am. It's just that he was too fast for me to hit._

_I tried to hit him several more times, but he dodged each of my blows and in returned, made a cut in my arms each time I missed._

"_You power-based brutes are all the same," Toddy said with disdain. "There's no point in being able to shatter rocks with a punch if you can't even hit your targets."_

_I just threw a broken timber at him in response._

_He just dodged it and I felt both his razors cut into my thigh._

_I fell down onto one knee. _

_I suddenly found both razors at my throat and I saw the Shichibukai standing there, a scornful look on his face._

_I thought I was going to die._

_But then, Roy whirled out of nowhere and rained blows down on Toddy, who barely managed to dodge Roy's bisento and took a step back._

_Roy told me to get back and took up his fighting stance._

_He charged at Toddy who dodged his blow and swung one of his razors in return. Roy dodged it with incredible speed and returned the favour. _

_It was an incredible battle. Both men were equally fast and dodged each other's blows as though they knew where it was coming from. Both of them were like whirlwinds trying to blow each other away. _

_It was amazing that Roy could wield a bisento that was way larger than him with such speed, but that proved to be the difference-maker. While Roy was strong, the bisento was a huge and heavy weapon and required a lot of energy to wield at such speed. Toddy was wielding two razors which were no heavier than a geisha's fan and could conserve his energy._

_I wanted to help, but my wounds slowed me too much, and both men were moving too fast. _

_I saw that Roy was tiring out and that he had suffered cuts along his arms and torso. Toddy was sweating and panting but he was unscathed as far as I could see. If the battle went on any longer, I knew Roy would lose._

_Desperate, I looked around and saw Goji slicing up three enemy pirates. I called to him and pointed to where Roy and Toddy were fighting._

_He nodded and was about to head over to help Roy when he was intercepted by two enemy swordsmen. Judging by the few blows they exchanged with Goji, I guessed that those guys were tough enough to give the old man some trouble._

_Desperate to help Roy, I looked around for anyone else who could help._

_I saw Cook bashing several enemy pirates' heads in with a frying pan but I also saw that he was pretty beat up himself. Everyone else was fighting for their lives._

_I forced myself to stand up and slowly made my way to where Roy and Goji were fighting._

_By the time I got there, wounded._

_I saw Toddy raise his razor to finish him off._

_I did the only thing I could, I shouted at him to stop._

_To my surprise, he actually did._

_He was giving me this look; I'm not quite sure what it was._

_I could see shock, anger and the barest hint of fear. He immediately turned away from Roy and charged at me instead._

_I took a swipe at him, knowing what was going to happen._

_He dodged my blow and tripped me up. He jumped up high and I saw with some sort of sick fascination that his razors were gleaming red in the sunlight._

_I just closed my eyes and expected to die then._

_Only...Roy got in the way._

_Toddy stabbed Roy right in the heart. The blow was meant to be for me, but Roy took it instead. I should have been the one to die, not Roy. What was that idiot thinking?!_

_Toddy tried to pull away, but Roy was holding on to him with a death-like grip._

_I got up and I saw Roy looking at me meaningfully._

_I understood what he wanted me to do._

"_You're already dying," said Toddy calmly even as he tried to pull free. "Let go."_

"_You know, Crimson Razor," said Roy, giving the Shichibukai a bloody grin. "You're right about power being useless when you can't hit anyone with it. But your speed is just as useless if you can't run away."_

"_What the hell do you think you can do?" sneered Toddy. "You're already dying!"_

"_I wasn't talking about me," said Roy, coughing up some blood._

_Toddy turned around and saw me approaching. The calm on his face turned to panic and he struggled more frantically. But Roy wouldn't let go._

_Once I was near enough, I raised my fist in a kind of dreamlike state. I was vaguely aware of the man telling me to stop and pleading for his life. But I was not going to spare him, not after what he did._

_I swung my fist right into his midsection, putting all of my remaining strength into it._

_Toddy was sent crashing into the ship mast, the wood crashing down on him._

_I knelt down beside Roy._

"_You're a moron," I said._

"_That's what I get for saving your life?" Roy said, grinning up at me. "You ungrateful brat."_

"_Why did you that?" I shouted. "You could've taken him out when he stabbed me! Why did you get in the way?"_

"_Because you're like my little brother," Roy said, shrugging. "How could I let you die?"_

_When he said that, I felt as though my heart literally broke. I just couldn't accept that this man, who had been like a brother to me, willing gave up his life to save me! I don't deserve it!_

"_You moron!" I shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You're not going to get away with this! You're going to live, damn it!"_

_Roy just looked at me with resignation on his face._

"_Grow up, Newgate," said Roy in almost indifferent tone, coughing up blood as he did. I'm amazed he could still talk despite the razors having stabbed his heart. _

"_We're pirates. Chances of death are pretty high for people like us. You just have to learn to move on. I'm going to die Newgate, deal with it."_

"_Shut up!" I yelled. "Shut the fuck up! You've just been stabbed right through the heart; if you keep talking shit you're just going to kill yourself! Shut the hell up! You're going to live even if it kills me!"_

_Roy gave me a look that was almost kind. I knew then that nothing I could do was going to save him. _

"_Jeez, if you want to hold on to me so much," scoffed Roy, picking up his bisento and pushing it into my hands. "Hold on to that, then. Maybe it'll make you feel like I'm still alive."_

_I held the bisento in my hands, it may have been too big for Roy, but it fitted my hands perfectly as though it had been made for my hands. I couldn't care less; all cared about was finding a way to make sure that Roy would live to continue wielding that weapon._

_Roy gave me another smile._

"_You shouldn't cry, Newgate, it makes you look even older than ever," he said._

_I realise then that tears had been pouring down my face. I hadn't cried for years, but how could I not cry when a dear comrade was dying right before my eyes. I couldn't do anything to save him._

"_Come on, little bro," rasped Roy, his voice growing weaker. "That stupid moustache of yours always looks like a smile, shouldn't you be smiling? Come on, Smiley, smile."_

_Then he was gone._

_I just lost it, I cried my heart out. I lost a dear friend, a crewmate, a nakama._

_A brother._

_I barely noticed when Toddy emerged from the rubble, gravely wounded. He still tried to crawl towards me, his razor raised to kill me. _

_I would've let him._

_Goji reached me in time and took the Shichibukai's head off with a clean swing of his sword._

_Even though their captain was dead, Toddy's crew were more than capable of taking us out. Most of our crewmates were beat up, Goji and Cook were wounded, Roy was dead and they outnumbered us._

_But Jones apparently regained consciousness and emerged from the infirmary. He turned the battle around and drove the enemy off._

_After that we had a funeral for those who died._

_We loaded them onto a makeshift raft and Captain burned the bodies._

_As I watched the bodies' burn, holding Roy's bloody bisento in my hands, I finally made my decision._

_I will eat the Devil Fruit I found on Little Garden. I will give up the ability to swim so that I will gain enough power to protect my comrades._

_I will not let anyone I hold dear to die in front of my eyes ever again._

* * *

Next chap coming soon


	13. Chapter 13

Isn't Akainu an absolute asshole?...but he did give me an idea for this chap anyway....

* * *

_Day 13_

_In the weeks that followed, I felt as though that joy and wonder that I had when I first entered Grand Line had evaporated like a mist under the sun._

_The death of Roy and the others was a painful reminder to me that this was indeed the most dangerous sea in the world, and what happened to Roy can happen to all of us. I have to get stronger in order to survive._

_We are headed for an island called Jaya, no one on the crew except for Goji and Cook knows much about it. What they do know is not much use. It's a pirate town, lawless and dangerous for most. There's also some story that Goji told me about some King of Liars called Norland who lied about finding a city of gold there._

_Before, I would've eagerly taken in all the information, but now, I just can't find it in myself to care. _

_I spent most of time training with Roy's bisento and sparring with Goji to improve my skills and of course, to figure out my Devil Fruit power._

_It was the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten. Plus, Captain, Cook and Goji told me that I had to eat the entire fruit to gain the power when in fact I only had to take one bite. Everyone had a good laugh. It felt good to hear laughter again even if only for a brief moment._

_It took me a few days to figure out how to use my powers. I found out how to by accident._

_We were attacked by a Sea King, one of the biggest to attack us yet. _

_It just popped up right in front of us, its mouth big enough to swallow Willy and the entire crew. The sudden appearance caused most of us to panic and even Goji's flying slashes didn't seem to hurt it much. Captain was down in the infirmary still recovering from his wounds._

_In panic, I just swung my fist out at the monster, though I was nowhere near it. To my surprise, an odd feeling flowed through my arm. It was something like a rumbling feeling. My arm looked steady, but I could feel my bones trembling as though I just lifted something really heavy, but without the fatigue. _

_When I finished the punching motion, at the point where my fist should have made contact, the rumbling feeling just gathered into that fist. To my surprise, the air in front of me cracked. Literally cracked, it was as though I was punching a mirror but the mirror didn't shatter. _

_Anyway, from that point, I noticed the air shimmering madly in front of me...like...like some sort of shockwave. It travelled quickly and spread out, catching some of my crewmates in it. When it reached the Sea King, the beast suddenly reeled back as though receiving a brutal hit. It collapsed and I saw that it was bleeding profusely._

_Everyone was quiet for a moment and slowly turned to look at me with wide eyes. No one said anything until Goji, the new First-Mate I should add, barked out orders to tend to those crewmates who had been caught up in the shockwave while Cook and a few others proceeded to butcher the Sea King for its meat._

_I'm glad to write here that my crewmates were alright. But they were badly wounded. Goji gave me an earful and yelled at me in private until...until...I'm ashamed to admit it, but he yelled at me until I was reduced to tears._

_It wasn't because of the yelling. It was because of what he said in the yelling. _

_He said I could've killed them, he said I could've killed us all. There was some lecturing about using power responsibly and all that but it was the fact I could've killed everyone that broke me down. I just started crying right there and then._

_I probably sound like I'm trying to save some dignity and I probably am, but I didn't bawl or anything like that. I just cried silently._

_That seemed surprise Goji and he stopped shouting. _

_As if I wasn't already disgraced as it is, I started blubbering. I hate myself for writing this, but I feel that I have to. _

_I just told him that I didn't want to hurt anyone, that I just wanted to protect everyone else, that I didn't want to see what happened to Roy happen to anyone else and I just didn't want what happened to my family to happen to them._

_That last part got Goji's attention. _

_In his usual gruff manner, he asked me to explain what I meant by that._

_This is what I told him._

_I was born into a rich family on a small island. My family did some sort of business which involved trading with other islands and it made us rich. My father was a strict man who was rather aloof with me while my mother did her best to fill that void. I had a decent life, better than most at any rate. _

_I was always interested in being a marine and it was of the few things in which my father, Edward Newlife openly approved of. So he had me trained with local militia to toughen me up. My mother, Moira, wasn't too happy about it. She wanted me to go into the family business with father and was worried I would be killed in battle. She also said that I should do things that make me happy, not do them to earn my father's approval. I supposed she was right, but I really did want to be a marine. So in the end, my mother acquiesced. So from the moment I turned eleven, I joined the local militia to begin my training before I was old enough to join the marines stationed at my home. Training was tough, but I enjoyed it and I was allowed to go home every few weeks to visit mother and father. Mom made sure I did._

_Then, a year before my eighteenth birthday, before I could join the marines, my father fell ill. Business was in trouble and mother had trouble running things. I went home to set things in order. I did pretty well filling in for father and held the fort for nearly the year. _

_When father recovered, mother told him everything and that was one of the few times my father told me face to face that he was proud of me. I've never been happier. I didn't know at the time it would be the last time he'd ever say that to me._

_He suddenly warned me not join the marines and before I could ask why, someone barged into the room. It was the head of the marines stationed at my home and his best guards. _

_In the confrontation that followed, I found out that the marines had been demanding a bribe from my father the year before. They wanted half the profits from my father's business. My father refused, claiming that to do so would mean that many of his workers would have to take pay cuts. The officer had not been pleased, seeing that the "protection fee" as he calls it, should be paid to the marines who kept them safe. _

_What a laugh, we had the militia to protect us and the threat of pirates around my home was really low. _

_The officer then stated that he was seizing my father's business under suspicion of smuggling. My father was outraged and was shot in the head. The officer said that was for "obstructing justice"._

_In blind fury, I struck down the officer and his guards. _

_My mother told me to run before the other marines got there. She told me to leave and never return for my own safety. I begged her to come with me but...she said that she would stay to protect me._

_That's how I ended up being a pirate._

_I became one because I failed to become a marine; I failed to become a marine for killing several marine officers and I killed them because I failed to protect my father, my family._

_Just like I had failed to protect Roy._

_I am nothing but a failure._

_Goji looked almost sympathetic after hearing my story. _

_Almost._

_He knocked me on the head with his scabbard and told me that if I really wanted to protect the people I cared about I should stop crying and just try to get stronger and get my Devil Fruit power under control._

_Most people would probably call that harsh treatment._

_But I think that Goji probably understood how I felt better than anyone else._

_Anyway, it's been a week since that happened and I've figured out more or less how to control my power. _

_Captain is also getting better from resting._

_Things are starting to look up again. _

_

* * *

_

Next chap coming soon....


	14. Chapter 14

Yeah, I know I made some errors with the timeline and such...which was I didn't focus too much on the Crocus and Laboon part....

Anyway....sorry for the late update...I had some trouble with overdue hospital bills and that drove even Pops from my mind for awhile....

anyway...here's the next chap....

* * *

_Day 14_

_Jaya was...interesting to say the least. _

_It's like how every pirate town should be like: lawless, violent, shabby and free. I beat up a few punks who tried to pick a fight with me but there were no pirates who were anywhere near my strength. _

_I didn't find the town, women or booze particularly appealing, so I explored the island instead. I found only three things that interested me._

_The first was a strange bird that had its head pointed south at all times. I caught one of them and forced it to look north. But it just looked south again. It was hilarious!_

_The second thing that I found interesting was this weird house in the cape. It perched right on the edge and it was only half a house. The other half was missing, gone. It's like someone sliced it in half. The cut was very clean. _

_The third thing I found interesting was another pirate. He was dressed in some weird robes and he was hanging around the weird house with a two people who I assumed were his crewmates. He was smoking a cigar and had a wild mane of a hair that reminded me of a lion. He was laughing loudly, and his laugh was weird. It went something like "Jihahahaha" or something like that. _

_Hearing his laugh made me laugh out loud and caught his attention. _

"_What are you laughing at?" he asked in a surprisingly calm voice._

"_Your stupid laugh," I answered, still laughing._

"_You're one to talk," snapped the other guy. "Who goes 'Gurarara', when laughing?" _

_I just chuckled. Apparently that displeased him and he ordered his two friends to attack me. I was a bit surprise to hear them calling him captain. Anyway, I just sent those two goons of his flying away and that seemed to surprise him._

"_You're pretty tough," he remarked. "You just took out my first-mate and second-mate."_

"_I'm supposed to be impressed by that?" I asked._

"_You should," said the other guy. "Both their bounties add up to nearly a hundred and forty million beri."_

"_Since you're the captain, I assume your bounty would be higher then?" I asked._

"_Jihahahaha!" laughed the guy. "I'm not about to tell you what my bounty is. But you are really strong! Say, why don't you join me and become my new first-mate?"_

_I was taken aback by his request. I was surprised that he was so willing to put someone he just met as first-mate while completely forgetting about his nakama._

"_Why would I want to join you?" I asked._

"_I got a plan here you see," he said. "You ever heard about the City of Gold? It used to be on this island! But then, something happened and it disappeared. The guy from the fairy tale...Norland, I think, said that the city must have sunk. But my archaeologist and a few others have a theory that the City was blasted up onto Sky Island..."_

"_Sky Island?" I asked. I've never heard of such a thing, not even from Goji who's been practically everywhere._

"_Some solid clouds up in the air, forming islands. People live up there," explained the guy briefly. "We could head up there, find the City of Gold, and take all the gold we could find and make us rich!"_

_I just stared at him blankly._

"_You want to go all the way up to the sky for some gold when there's plenty of it down here?" I asked._

"_Not just 'some' gold!" cried the guy. "An entire city! But that's not all. I found documents that says that people living on Sky Island have some weird but incredible technology! We can go and learn how to use it for ourselves! Once we do, we can use the gold from the City and build a powerful armada and we can conquer not only Grand Line, but the whole world!"_

"_Not interested," I said._

_He was so shocked by blunt refusal that his mouth just dropped. When he finally gathered himself, his face had started to turn red with rage._

"_I offer you a great opportunity to become a ruler of this world and you turn me down?" he shouted. "People would bow before you! They would cater to your every whim! They'd worship you! You'd have to answer to no one but me!"_

_I laughed. That fool just doesn't get it._

"_I didn't become a pirate to conquer the world," I said, grinning. "I became a pirate just so that I could be free. I don't want to conquer anyone or anything other than the Grand Line. Even then, when I say conquer, I mean: explore it thoroughly."_

"_You idiot!" roared the guy, drawing two swords from somewhere within his robes. "You simple fool! You refuse a chance at greatness! But now that you know my plan, you must die!"_

_From the way he gripped his swords and the way he carried himself, I could tell that he was no weakling. I unstrapped Roy's bisento from my back and prepared myself to go all out against him. _

_He charged at me so quickly that I had no time to bring my powers into play. I barely blocked his swords with a clumsy move and he used the opening to kick me, sending me flying back into the forest. One of the trees landed on me._

_As the dust cleared, I saw that guy charging through at me. I threw the tree right at him but he just sliced it to bits. I used that momentary distraction and sent a shockwave at him. That caught him off-guard and sent him flying. I was surprised when he got up again, bleeding a little from the mouth but otherwise unscathed. _

"_What the hell was that?" he asked._

"_I ate the Gura Gura No Mi," I answered. That's what Captain called my Devil Fruit power anyway. "I can create quakes."_

_To my surprise, the guy just grinned. _

"_Looks like this is going to be a tough match," he said. "I'm going to enjoy this. You have a name that I can carve on your gravestone?"_

"_Edward Newgate of the Nautica Pirates," I answered proudly. The guy was clearly challenging me to an honourable duel, not that most pirates have any sense of honour, but this guy clearly did._

_The guy raised a thick eyebrow at that. _

"_The Nautica Pirates, eh?" he said. "You guys were the ones who took out the Crimson Razor, right?"_

_I nodded wordlessly; I didn't want to think too much about that fight._

"_Well then, Newgate," he said, whirling his swords into a fighting stance. "I am Shiki the Golden Lion, one of the most feared rookie pirates on this sea! You must've heard of me before!"_

_I was a bit embarrassed for him, but I've never even heard of him. My blank look must've told him that. _

_I saw a vein popping in his temple. _

"_C'mon, you must've heard about my name at least?" he asked. _

_I just shook my head._

_Shiki let out an exasperated sigh._

"_Never mind," he said. "Even if you've never heard of me before, after this fight is over you'll never be able to forget it, not that you'll live to remember it anyway."_

"_Just shut up and fight me before I throw you to the bottom of the sea," I snapped. _

_Shiki grinned at me and we both started our fight._

_Our fight was a lot like the one I had with that punk, Roger. Shiki was really strong, even with my Devil Fruit power, he moved fast enough to dodge the shockwaves I sent at him and each blow we traded sent tremors through my bones. At one point during the fight, I sent another shockwave at him, but using some sort of super speed move to heighten the sharpness of his swords, he managed to cut through my shockwave and charged right at me, his swords aimed right at my heart. I could've dodged it or blocked it, but I also saw an opening to end the fight, though it could've cost me my life._

_I concentrated my powers into one hand, and the moment Shiki was near I closed the gap and seized his head, releasing the quake I gathered there into his skull. He coughed up blood violently but somehow found the way sink both his swords through my stomach. We broke apart and collapsed._

"_Jihahahaha," Shiki laughed even as blood poured out of his mouth. "Looks like we'll have to continue our fight in the afterlife, if there is one."_

_I laughed, even as I slowly succumbed to my wounds. "An eternity of battle, I could do worse, I think."_

_Both of us laughed. We laughed and laughed until I passed out._

_When I woke up, for one wild moment, I thought I was dead. But it turned out I was in the ship's infirmary. _

_To my surprise, I saw Captain Jones and Goji sleeping on the chairs beside my bed._

"_You're awake, thought you were going to die, young one," said Shane, the grizzled ship doctor. _

"_What about that other guy?" I asked._

"_The one with the crazy main for a hairdo?" asked Shane. "His own crew rescued him, nearly got into a fight with us."_

_An odd feeling of relief washed through me, while Shiki was my enemy, and a worthy one at that, I didn't want him to die. At least not by another person's hand._

"_What the hell were you thinking?" a familiar voice snarled. _

_I turned and saw Goji had already awakened; his face red with anger._

_I instinctively cringed._

"_What the hell were you thinking?" the old man snarled again. "Were you trying to get yourself killed? Were you trying to...to...gah! You're really an idiot, Newgate!"_

_Normally I would keep my mouth shut, but then something in me just snapped._

"_Shut up, you shitty old man!" I yelled, surprising both Shane and Goji. "I wasn't trying to get myself killed! I was fighting! The opponent was as strong as me, and we both got badly beat up! That's all!"_

"_You little brat!" shouted Goji. "You got into a pointless fight that could've brought the marines down on us! Your quake powers could've been felt for miles!"_

"_So what!" I roared, losing all control. "So what if the marines come down on us! We would've wiped them off the Grand Line!"_

_Goji was blinking with surprise, a little taken aback by my outburst because I was normally quiet. But he recovered and his eyes narrowed with fury._

"_You arrogant little punk!" the old man raged. "You want what happened to Roy to happen to everyone else? You want to get us all killed?"_

_The mention of Roy got me out of bed and I would've fought Goji right there if it hadn't been for Captain Jones. _

"_Enough you two," the captain's calm voice cut through to us. "Goji, Shane, could the two of you leave us for awhile?"_

_Goji and Shane left, the old man still fuming as he did._

_Captain just looked at me for a long while but didn't say anything and neither did I. The silence just stretched on and on but I was determined to not be the one to break it._

_Finally, Captain spoke._

"_We miss him too, you know."_

_That simple statement caught me off guard and I felt that hot prickling sensation that preceded the tears. I blinked them back furiously, not wanting to cry again, at least not in front of the Captain._

"_Getting yourself killed won't bring him back," Jones added quietly._

"_That deathblow was meant for me," I said. "It should have been me who died, not Roy."_

_Captain just stared at me for awhile before sighing. Then, he did something completely unexpected._

_He struck me across the face._

_Hard._

"_The fact is he's still the one who died!" shouted Jones. "You on the other hand, are still alive! You think I'm going to allow you to spit on his sacrifice by getting yourself killed? You must be mad, boy!"_

_I was too stunned by the hit and the fact that Captain Jones, who's normally so soft spoken, was shouting. _

"_Roy was my best mate too, you know," said the Captain, his voice now soft and weary. "I've known him for a very long time. His sacrifice...I would've done the same for him, and he for me. I would've done it for you, Goji, Cook, Shane and anyone else."_

_I felt the tears coming and again and blinked them back furiously._

"_I know Roy's way of thinking better than anyone else," continued Jones. "That's why I know that he's very happy that his last act was to protect a nakama."_

"_I don't deserve it," I said quietly._

_Jones just shook his head. "Do any of us? But the fact remains that he did it, and would do it a thousand times over if he could. So would I."_

_He got up and placed a hand on my shoulder gently._

"_I know you feel responsible for his death, Newgate," Jones said gently. "But believe me when I say that you are not to blame. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine."_

_I looked up at him, surprised._

_He nodded. "If I had recovered in time, I would've been able to stop the Crimson Razor from killing him and the others. But no, I was lying down here, incapacitated."_

_Self-loathing was evident in his voice and I realise then that Captain was actually taking Roy's death the hardest. But he handled it way better than I did. _

"_So please, Newgate, don't throw your life away needlessly," continued Jones. "It would be an insult to Roy."_

_He turned to leave but I had to ask him one last question._

"_Captain, why would you lay down your life for ours?"_

_Jones didn't even turn around, but his answer struck a chord with me._

"_Because you are all my family. Is that not enough?"_

_I'm ashamed of the way I behaved. I was selfish in thinking that I was the only who was saddened by Roy's death. The truth is that everyone felt the loss, not just me._

_I've been behaving like an idiot. I've been saved by Roy, and the only way I can repay him is to protect those I care about._

_Even if it means that I would die._


	15. Chapter 15

This chapter is more of a filler....that's why it took so damn long...cause I didn't know what to write about....sorry about that...

* * *

_Day 15_

_It's been nearly a month since the events in Jaya. We're now sailing to an island called St. Poplars. Goji advised us to be careful there since Marines constantly patrol that area._

_Speaking of Goji, I apologised to him about what happened, and I'm glad to say that even though he thinks I'm a complete moron, he understands and holds no grudges._

_Another thing, Captain and Goji have gotten new bounties on their heads. Captain's has increased from 89 million beri to 260 million. That's twenty million more than the Crimson Razor's former bounty. Goji now has a bounty of 100 million beri. When I read the reason, I was a little surprised._

_It states that Captain killed Toddy, when in fact, it had been the combined efforts of Roy, Goji and myself that had led to the Shichibukai being killed. Goji got his bounty due to "murder of Marine officials and desertion". _

_I asked Captain about this._

"_It's likely my bounty was given through an honest mistake," he said. "But Goji's...I think they dug up some information on his past and decided to twist the information."_

_I then asked Captain Jones about his previous bounty. _

"_Look, Newgate," said Jones. "Bounties aren't given just to indicate the level of strength; its main purpose is to indicate the level of threat the pirate poses to the World Government. I got my bounty through wiping out a few marine bases in East Blue and robbing several very rich merchant ships throughout North and West Blue as well as Grand Line. But because East Blue is a relatively weak area, they didn't really take much notice. They were displeased with me robbing some very rich people who provide the Marines with revenue, in other words: bribes. So they granted a bounty up to 89 million beri on my head: enough to be noticed, but not enough to be taken seriously by the stronger marines. But if they knew before hand I had the power of a Logia...then the bounty might have been higher. When I attack those places I didn't use my powers so they didn't think me threatening enough. But I guess after that battle with the Marines in Alabasta, they must have realised it and then, on top of us taking out the Crimson Razor...they now view Goji and I as a legitimate threat."_

"_So stronger marines will be coming after us now?" I asked._

"_Likely," answered Jones. "That's why we've got to be more careful from now on. I have great confidence in my strength and you guys, but if we run into an Admiral...it's not going to be pretty." _

_I knew what he meant. Everyone who sailed the seas knew about the strength of a Marine Admiral. All the wonder I felt when I first entered Grand Line had vanished, replaced with that horrible feeling of constant weariness that was almost suffocating. _

_I realised that I've become a very bitter person since Roy's death, but I couldn't find it in myself to be as carefree as I used to be before. I've already lost track of the time I've been with the Nautica Pirates but I've learned and seen so much that I don't think I could ever go back to the person I was though sometimes I wish I could._

_But they are my family, where they go, I go._

* * *

It's not very good I know...I'll do better for the next chapter...


	16. Chapter 16

Very short chapter, don't kill me....it's a prelude to something bigger...

* * *

_Day 16_

_They're dead...they're all dead...it's my fault..._

_They died because of me..._

_And I'm dying..._

_...it is no less than I deserve..._


	17. Chapter 17

SO VERY SORRY FOR MY VERY LONG HIATUS...SWAMPED WITH ASSIGNMENTS....so I've been mass producing chapters instead...and I might be doing that for awhile...therefore....expect huge gaps between updates...

note: some of the chapters are really short...but hopefully relevant...

Note: I was writing all these chapters while trying to write a research paper at the same time....please bear that in mind before criticising...thanks...=)

* * *

_Day 17_

_...I seem to be in some sort of infirmary...I can't think clearly..._

_Was I rescued? I hope not..._

_Somebody's moving around in here...I can't really see them...it hurts to move..._

_How on earth did I manage to hold on to this?_

_...why am I even writing...this?_

_They're dead...they're all dead..._


	18. Chapter 18

_Day 18_

_I can think more clearly now, though that isn't saying much._

_I'm in an infirmary. I've been in here for days now, according to the ship doctor. _

_Something seems off...but I'm too tired to care..._

_How'd this journal survive with me?_


	19. Chapter 19

_Day 19_

_I don't remember what happened while I was adrift on the sea, but it seems I've been rescued._

_Fate just seems to enjoy screwing with me._

_I expected to die...I hoped to die, but instead I was rescued._

_I was drifting on the ocean on a very large piece of wood that had once been the door to Captain Jones's cabin and I passed out. I don't know for how long._

_Anyway, when I woke up, I found myself in the brig of a ship. There was this guy, the ship doctor who was attending to me. He's massive, about a head taller than me. What stood out while he was treating me was this huge warhammer strapped to his back. Looked as though it was made of stone, not that I care._

_Anyway, when I woke up, the guy told me to get on the deck to see the ship captain._

_The ship isn't very big, not even half Willy's size. The crew's pretty small too. They were all on deck, as though they've been expecting me. I looked around and asked for the ship captain._

_A man dressed in a simple grey shirt with a bandanna around his head answered. He's as big as the ship doctor and had a broadsword strapped to his back. What unnerved me though, was that this guy was obviously as old as Goji had been, but age didn't seem to bother him. He stood as tall as his crewmates. Another thing about this was this braided grey beard that reached down his chest._

"_Well, good to see you awake, son," he said, grinning broadly._

"_Thanks for rescuing me," I answered, though it was just empty words. _

_The old man laughed and it's a very strange laugh._

"_Haiirorororororo! No need to thank me, child," boomed the captain. "Children shouldn't be dying until they're as old and brittle as I am! What's your name?"_

_I told him._

"_Edward Newgate, eh?" he said. "Well boy, we're in South Blue now and are on our way to..."_

_I was surprised, we were in South Blue? When I was last conscious we had been in Grand Line. I asked him about that._

"_Well, you've been out for a week," the captain said. "You really got your ass kicked and you were barely alive when we found you. We just crossed the Calm Belt into South Blue..."_

_The Calm Belt? The nesting ground of the Sea Kings? I asked him how he managed to achieve that._

_He seemed mildly amused by my surprise._

"_We fought our way through, of course," he answered as though that was sanest thing to do._

"_Just who the hell are you guys?" I asked, stunned._

_The old man grinned._

"_Well, some people know me as Arden Frank," he said. "But most people call me Greybeard. We're the Greybeard Pirates."_

_I reeled at his answer. I'm on the ship of the most powerful pirate to ever sail the seas. Now that I look back at that moment, the grey beard of his should've given away his identity. And the people on the ship, his crew, they were pretty infamous themselves. _

_The first-mate, Lat the Dark Puppeteer. He was sitting on this huge wooden monster that must have been his weapon. He was a small man with dark skin and a mischievous smile on his face. But even though he looks weak, he's not. His bounty is as high as that of a Shichibukai though I don't know the exact figure._

_The ship doctor, it turns out, was none other than Grunt the Hammer. The hammer that he carries around must've weighed roughly a tonne yet he wasn't even bothered by its weight. His face was as still as stone and he moved about slowly, though not from the weight of the hammer, it seemed to me it was because he was too lazy to move quickly._

_There were others, but my hand is a little tired from all this writing._

_Anyway, the whole point is that I've been rescued by one the most feared pirate crew who sailed through the Calm Belt as though it was nothing._

_Why do these things happen to me?_


	20. Chapter 20

_Day 20_

_Day 20 now, though it's been so long since my first entry. _

_I've...re-read this from Day 1 and I still feel shocked that everything that happened...well, happened. It all felt like a dream, a wonderfully long dream._

_But it ended in a nightmare._

_They're all gone now. Goji, Roy, Cook, Captain and everyone else. I hope that they survived, but after what happened, the odds of that are pretty slim. I still can't believe I managed to survive...what happened._

_I've been sailing for a week now with the Greybeard Pirates. The strongest pirate crew in the world, captained by the strongest man in the world, Arden Frank the Greybeard. _

_The old man is...eccentric. He's the captain, but he also serves the ship's cook and he's good at it. He helps around his ship just as much and often spends the night sleeping on deck or looking at the stars. _

_His crew are no less eccentric._

_The first-mate, Lat, is always playing with his gigantic puppet and he likes to use ventriloquist skills to throw his voice around to pull pranks on his crewmates. _

_The ship doctor, Grunt always seems to be breaking doors or walls or walking into them without realising it. _

_The crew, including the three I just mentioned, is made up of nine men. Each one has a bounty of over 200 million beri. _

_The other six are Jazz the Renegade, Baha the Grey Blade, Salim the Titan, Shah the Sniper, Bran the Firebrand and Flick the Battering Ram. _

_These guys are all famous for screwing with WG big time at one point or another. _

_From what I remember, Jazz was an agent of the WG who went rogue and ended up killing most of his former subordinates as well as selling information to the enemies of the WG. Baha gained notoriety when he massacred three Marine squads, headed by a famous Vice-Admiral and for killing a King in some country or other. As for Salim, I have no idea what he did to piss of the WG but I assume it has to be pretty severe for him to gain such a terrifying reputation. Shah is wanted for assassinating four Vice-Admiral and countless Cipher Pol agents. Bran apparently raped a Tenryuubito! That guy must be nuts. In any case, he was pursued by an Admiral for a long time until he joined up with Greybeard, who apparently killed the Admiral. As for Flick, like Salim, I don't what he did._

_So now I'm on a ship whose crew are among the most wanted men in the world. Ironically, it's also the safest place for me because apparently no one would willingly face them in battle. _

_Looking at the way they behave, I find it a little hard to believe that these men committed great crimes. They all seem so...nice. But looks can be deceiving._

_Anyway, Greybeard told me that they were headed for Baterilla to resupply and that I was welcomed to sail with them if I wanted to. I asked him why he would let me sail with his crew and he just answered that I had an unpleasant face and a funny moustache. It made him laugh. _

_I accepted to follow them as far as Baterilla. I'll figure out what to do from there._


	21. Chapter 21

_Day 21_

_I've been in Baterilla for a week now._

_Greybeard and his crew are going to leave soon and I have to make my decision if I want to continue sailing with them or not. _

_On one hand, I feel like I do want to go with them. They're an interesting bunch and they don't go around randomly hurting people for no reason, pretty much like...like my previous crew. _

_On the other hand, I've grown quite comfortable on this island. The people here live a simple life, everyone knows each other and they're all like one big family. _

_I met this little kid called Chip. He seemed to take a shine to me and followed me around the island's main town and shows me around the rest of the place. He's a good kid._

_Before we arrived at the island, I shaved off my moustache. It reminded me too much of...of them. Greybeard didn't approve, says it makes my face look a lot longer than it actually is._

_Anyway, I've met some of the inhabitants of this island. There's the bartender, George, a grizzled and cranky old man. Chip's drunk of a father, Don. I don't like that man, he seems like bad news. I also met this pregnant woman called Roulette Moulin. She has a husband who's a treasure-hunter and she's been pregnant for four months now._

_Anyways, the inhabitants seem to be well acquainted with the Greybeard Pirates. The old man and his crew always bring them stuff from the Grand Line and they willingly supply his crew with whatever they need. I asked him why he did that._

"_This island is one of my territories," he answered. "Most people won't mess with my territory, because I'll beat the snot out of them if they do. At the same time, these islands need things they can't provide for themselves. Extra food supplies, rare metal and so on. Since my crew and I go places, we're more likely to run into these things and we bring them to the islands and the locals' trade with us in return."_

_So his reputation was strong enough to keep people from messing with people associated with him. That is really incredible. I asked why he was so feared by the World Government._

_He just grinned and winked at me._

"_Some things shouldn't be known until you're ready," he said._

_Anyway, I really like this island. There's nothing left for me out there. Maybe I should settle down here? Chip's been pestering me to stay._

_Maybe I should._


	22. Chapter 22

_Day 22_

_I decided to stay._

_Chip's persistence and the island's charm finally persuaded me to stay. That, and Greybeard's own decision._

_I talked it over with old man and this is what he said to me._

"_Boy, you're not ready to go back out there. I don't know what happened, but I can see it's still haunting you. You're not ready to be fighting marines, Sea Kings and whatnot. Stay here, it'll probably be good for you."_

_What happened will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. But Greybeard was right; I'm in no condition to face the dangers out there if my own mind is screwed up. _

_The villagers showed me an old hut I can stay in and the wharf-master and head-miner both agreed to give me work depending on who needs more manpower. _

_Greybeard and his crew left yesterday. Before he left, Greybeard returned Roy's bisento to me, saying he found it with me._

_I'm...glad. I'm glad that'll I'll still have something to remember them by._

_Anyway, tomorrow's the first day of my new life. I got to turn early._


	23. Chapter 23

_Day 23_

_I've been staying on Baterilla for just a little over a year now._

_Some might call this life dull and boring, but I'm content. Some days I wake up and head to the docks to go fishing with the others. On other days I go help the miners with their...well, mining. My quake powers come in handy there, but I'm reluctant to use them because of what...what happened._

_Anyway, most people don't bother me much and I spend most of my time with George in the bar or with Chip. The kid's really adventurous. In the past year I had to bail him out of trouble more times than I can count. Some people even call us brothers._

_Heh, a brother. I never had one. _

_Moulin turned out to be my neighbour and she's a really nice woman. Sometimes if she's got time, she'll come over and cook for me or invite me and Chip over for lunch or dinner at her place. She also helps me with other stuff, like mending my clothes and so on. In return, I help her with fixing her house when there's anything broken or babysitting her little girl, Rouge._

_Moulin would often tell me of her husband, though I've never seen him. Tells me her husband would go away for long periods of time and just drop in unexpected. Sounds like a good man._

_Anyway, the reason I suddenly decided to write today was because Chip brought me a newspaper. Seems that a rookie pirate whose strength was pretty awesome has been terrorising the Marines in Grand Line. That wouldn't bother me, except that this rookie's name is Gol D. Roger._

_That bastard I fought back in East Blue in what feels like a different life._

_The thing is, hearing about this rookie making a name for himself seems to have woken some competitive spirit of mine. I suddenly feel restless. I feel the urge to go back out there. I still remember what we both said back in Loguetown. _

"_I'm Gol D. Roger. Remember the name, 'cause I'm the guy who'll conquer the Grand Line!"_

"_I'm Edward Newgate. If there's anyone who'll conquer the Grand Line, it's going to be me!"_

_Those words have always stayed with me somehow, as though to remind me of what I truly am: a Pirate._

_Of course, if anyone else read this journal, they can argue I only remember those words because I went back all the way to that particular entry to refresh my memory._

_And they wouldn't be wrong._

_But while it's not the words in particular, is this weird feeling...kind of like a bond that may fade into the background, but is always there. I suddenly feel the urge to get back out to the sea and sail around freely._

_But there are too many things I have to hold on to back here; Chip, Moulin and this peaceful island that I've adopted as my own home. _

_I'm confusing myself now._

_Screw it; I'm going over to George's for a drink._


	24. Chapter 24

_Day 24_

_It's been about three months since my last entry._

_I found that Don, Chip's old man, has been beating the kid. I wanted to intervene but Chip wouldn't let me. He insists that he could handle it. Tough little man._

_But he's been sleeping over at my place more often now. I don't mind, the kid really makes things livelier. He also likes to hear stories about the time I spent in Grand Line. It's the only time I've ever talked about...them._

_Anyway, I got back a little late from fishing today and ran into Chip along the way. His old man was really drunk again, so I let him stay over at my place again. We grilled some fish and talked about stuff._

_He asked me why I shaved my moustache._

_I remember during my first few weeks here, I forgot about it and let it grow for a bit. George that grumpy old sack actually cracked up when he saw it. I never forgot to shave ever since. Anyway Chip seemed to like it._

_He doesn't know that it reminded me of...them._

_Anyway, I told him that it made me look old._

"_But it's so cool!" he said. "If you started a pirate crew, it can be part of you flag! You could call yourself...Whitebeard!"_

_Whitebeard._

_Feels a bit like rip-off on old Greybeard, but I like the way it sounds._

_Never mind the fact that it doesn't make sense._

"_But it's a moustache, Chip," I told him._

"_Well, Whitebeard sounds better than White Moustache or Smiley Face doesn't it?"_

_Got to hand it to him, the kid knows how to argue his case._

_Anyway, right now he's sleeping on my hammock. I can see the bruises on his arms; his father must've really beaten him bad. _

_I wish Chip would let me deal with Don._

_How could anyone hit such a good kid?_


	25. Chapter 25

_Day 25_

_I know it's unusual for me to write a day after my last entry._

_I'm getting a little worried; I haven't seen Chip since this morning. Normally the kid would greet me when I come back from work._

_Could something have happened?_

_Chip lives on the other side of the island, and it's too dark now for me to get there. I'll go check first thing at sunrise tomorrow._


	26. Chapter 26

_Day 26_

_Don's hiding something. I just know it._

_I went over to his place and asked him about Chip. He just tells me that the kid hadn't been home since yesterday and told me get off his property. The guy's a real asshole for not caring about his own son but I can't do anything about it._

_I spent the day looking for Chip but I can't find him. I've searched all the spots where we normally hang out, but I couldn't find him._

_Damn it, I'm really worried now._

_I should've kept an eye on him._


	27. Chapter 27

_Day 27_

_I...I found Chip._

_It...it was right after I finished the previous entry._

_The kid had somehow managed to get in my hut while I was away and was sleeping on my hammock under the blankets, so I didn't see him. _

_He's...he's been hurt really bad. Don really did a number on him this time. I called the village doctor to look after him._

_Then I went straight to Don's place._

_I smashed that bastard's face in. I beat him up so bad that it'll be a miracle if he could even blink without any pain from today onwards._

_When I got back, the doctor had just finished treating him. He...he told me that Chip's injuries were too severe...that he won't have long to live._

_I know Don is a monster for doing this to his own child...but in so many ways, I'm also a monster for allowing this to happen. I knew what Don was, but I didn't forcefully intervene as I should have. I shouldn't have listened to Chip. I should've protected him...now I'm losing him..._

_Just like I lost them..._

_It was my fault they died._

_We were ambushed by a squad of marines led by an Admiral. We didn't stand a chance, everyone was dying. Jones, Goji, Cook...I panicked. I didn't want them to die...I did what I could to protect them._

_I used my powers...and created a tsunami which wiped us all out. I don't know if the Admiral and his crew survived and I don't really care....but I wound up wiping out my own crew. It was my fault they died..._

_I'm a monster..._

_I..._

_Chip's woken up...his calling to me right now..._


	28. Chapter 28

_Day 28_

_Chip's dead now._

_I buried him on a cliff where we always liked to hang out and look at the rest of the island and the sea._

_Chip told me that he wanted to be a great pirate one day. He wanted to be a great pirate so that he could collect all the unwanted and abused children and made sure that they were never mistreated again._

_Only six years old and already harbouring such a noble dream. _

_He would've been a great man._

_Now I will never know for sure._

_He...he managed to hold on for one day. We talked. We talked about a lot of things. But this is what I remember the most._

_He told me that he never saw me as a brother._

_He told me...that...that he saw me as a father._

_He told me that past year with me was the happiest time of his life. _

_His last words to me...I don't deserve them at all._

_What he said to me was...was more painful than anything I've ever endured._

"_I love you, dad."_

_That's what he said to me. It was so painful to hear that. It was painful because I loved that boy so much and I never told him that. It was painful because I wasn't good enough to be called a father by such an innocent. If I had been a good father, I would've protected him at all costs. I wouldn't have let him died. I wouldn't have allowed him to go back to that monster. I...I would've helped him grow up so that I could one day share a bottle of rum with him. If I had been a good father, I would've done what was best for him regardless of his wishes._

_I am a dreadful father. _

_But one thing's for certain now, with Chip gone, there's nothing left for me on Baterilla. I'll depart as soon as I can get a boat._

_I don't belong here anymore._


	29. Chapter 29

Here are the next few episodes...

A/N: Some of the entries may be really short, that is to try to keep with a pirate persona to be a lazy writer...XP....that, and because I'm trying to focus on quality rather than quantity...I hope that's okay with you guys...

* * *

_Day 29_

_I'm now leaving Baterilla._

_It took me two weeks to prepare everything I needed. George gave me his old boat because he's too old to go sailing anywhere now and Moulin helped me prepare the supplies I'll need for my journey._

_I don't really know where I'll go, but I know for sure that it's going to be somewhere in Grand Line. _

_Leaving Baterilla has been...tough. _

_Even though Chip was my anchor there, the other people: Moulin, George and everyone else have also been like family to me. I'm also sorry that I won't be around to see Rouge grow up. I'm sure she'll be as lovely as her mother one day._

_But without Chip, there's no solid reason for me to stay there. I guess settling down to a normal life isn't meant to be for people like me. _

_The open sea awaits me._

_This is my home now._


	30. Chapter 30

_Day 30_

_This is eerily like the first time I sailed._

_I'm running low on food and I'm hopelessly lost somewhere in South Blue. My boat's also barely floating. I've been terrorised by all sorts of sea monsters and a Sea King._

_This is annoying. I'm bored stiff, there's no wind, I have no idea how long I've been at sea. As always, when I have nothing to do, when I don't know what to do; I'm writing in this blasted journal as always._

_It's too much hope for me to be picked up by another ship like last time._

_But it's all I could hope for right now._


	31. Chapter 31

_Day 31_

_What do you know?_

_I have been picked up after all._

_The Narwhal Pirates found me and picked me up. They're on their way to Grand Line now. _

_They picked me up around three weeks ago and I've been spending the time recovering my strength, helping out and getting to know the crew better. _

_They weren't particularly notorious, but their captain's a mean guy. He rules with the whip. _

_Literally._

_He's called Ringo Marc the Whipmaster. I know, the nickname is kinda lame, but it's his weapon and he has some sort of sick attachment to it. He's bounty is fifteen million berri, low for Grand Line standards. He's a really cruel guy. The only reason the bastard picked me up was because he apparently whipped three of his own crew to death and saw that I was probably equivalent to five from my size alone._

_Everyone else is scared to death of him._

_His first-mate, Kaze, is much respected among the crew. Kaze tries to keep the captain from beating them too much, but since his strength is nowhere near the captain's he couldn't do much. _

_They're a nice bunch of people, except the captain of course, but they're way weaker than my old crew._

_These guys want to conquer Grand Line._

_Are they serious?_


	32. Chapter 32

_Day 32_

_From the moment I was picked up by the Narwhal Pirates, I knew that sooner or later, I would eventually beat the crap out of the captain, Ringo. _

_It happened yesterday, about two days after picked me up. He was going in a whipping frenzy because the ship wasn't going fast enough. I finally had enough and sent him flying overboard with a quake-powered punch. That's the end of Ringo as far as I'm concerned._

_After that, I put Kaze in charge much to the crew's delight. He immediately distributed the ship's wealth among the crew. Apparent Ringo had been accumulating some really nice treasure that he wanted to pawn on an island just before heading into Grand Line._

_Kaze and the others tried to give me some of the treasure as thanks for getting rid of Ringo, but I refused._

_There were a lot of high quality stuff in there, pure gold statues, golden crowns encrusted with diamonds and rubies as red as blood. But to my own surprise, I couldn't find any sort of interest in the treasure within myself. _

_Gold won't bring back Goji, Jones, Cook and Roy._

_It won't bring back Chip._

_When I refused, Kaze and his crew looked bewildered. Some of them even laughed at me._

"_That's just weird," said one of Kaze's crewmates. "Whoever heard of a pirate who's not interested in treasure?"_

"_What the hell is it you want, then?" asked Kaze. "Well, Newgate?"_

_I thought about the question for a long while. I remembered mom and dad and how they used to care for me. Jones, Roy, Goji, Cook and the other Nautica Pirates and how they took me on their adventures, how they took away my loneliness and how they made me feel as though I'm worth something. I remembered Moulin and her daughter, Rouge. I remembered how Moulin would make lunch for me while Rouge would gurgle away happily on my knee, how Moulin would fuss if tore my shirt a little and how she would throw a bucket of water at me to wake me up if I was late for work. I remembered George, who'd grumpily complain about me drinking his cellar dry but never chased me away. I remembered Chip, who'd hang out with me to listen to my stories, make me laugh, how he used to get into so much trouble until I had to bail him out...how he said I was like his father. _

_To me, those moments are far more precious than all the gold and diamonds in the world. _

_The answer floated to me. _

_Just like that, I knew what I always wanted._

"_...Ever since I was a kid," I said slowly, catching their attention. "There's something I've always wanted to have."_

"_Oh? What is it, then?" asked Kaze curiously._

"_Let's hear it!" cried another pirate._

_The answer was so simple and so right, that as I looked out at the sea, I found myself smiling._

"_...a family."_

_The other pirates were quiet for a moment before they all burst into laughter. One of them said._

"_The hell's up with that? Gyahahahaha!"_

_I don't mind, I know what I want and they can laugh all they want. I glanced at Kaze, who was the only one who didn't laugh. Instead, he gave me a small smile and a nod of acceptance._

_A family._

_One that I could call my own._

_I guess that's what I really want._

_It took me so long to realise it. _


	33. Chapter 33

Here are the next three chapters, enjoy...

* * *

_Day 33_

_The Narwhal Pirates and I separated yesterday. _

_After dropping me off at the final stop in South Blue before Grand Line, they pawned what they could and sailed off. They never wanted to go to Grand Line and with the money they've got from the treasure; they should be able to live a comfortable life for a long time._

_As for me, I'm now trying to hitch a ride into Grand Line. Worst case scenario, I'd have to stow away...which is not really wise since I doubt there's anything big enough to conceal me._

_Maybe I should try to get in through the Marines as a cabin boy, or find a rich merchant who might need a temporary bodyguard...anything that would get me into Grand Line again..._

_Or maybe I should start my own crew..._

_Gah, I better find a place to stay first before I do anything else._


	34. Chapter 34

_Day 34_

_I've been scratching out a living in the backstreets of this island for a week now. _

_I wake up in the morning, forage in the nearby forest for food or hunt the occasional animal. Then I head for the docks and try to get onto a ship headed for Grand Line. So far, no success._

_If things get desperate I might actually have to enlist with the Marines...though I don't want to. It's likely someone might recognise me from the incident with the Shichibukai and the Admiral over a year ago._

_Speaking of the Marines, something's been going on for the past two days. They seem to be on high alert and a few Vice-Admirals arrived here a day ago. They seem to be watching out for something....or someone._

_I've been trying to find out, but again, no luck._

_I'd better keep an eye out on things._


	35. Chapter 35

_Day 35_

_I finally found out what's been going on._

_It was one of the Three Demons. More specifically, it was Terrence the Blackbeak. He and his crew just descended out of nowhere in the middle of the night and attacked the Marine post on this island. _

_I have no idea why a Demon is sailing so far away from Red Line, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I saw Blackbeak dispatched the Vice-Admirals posted all by himself. I've seen his power._

_He has a Mythical Zoan, a type of Devil Fruit that's even scarcer than the coveted Logia. It allows him to transform into this dark titanic bird that seems to be made of darkness itself. I think I heard one of the Vice-Admirals scream that's it's the mythical bird called the Garuda. Anyway, all their attacks just passed through Blackbeak and then all he did was covered them with one wing...and they were just a bloody mess on the ground after that. I have no idea what happened._

_What happened next was that Blackbeak ordered his men to plunder the whole island. I guess he's the complete opposite of Greybeard. His crew descended on the town and began to terrorise the population. _

_I stood and fought against them, but they were really strong. I managed to defeat the lower ranked subordinates but had my hands full against some of the higher ranking ones. _

_Until Blackbeak himself came to me. _

_Seeing him up close, I find it hard to believe that this is one of the three most dangerous pirates to sail the seas despite the fact that I already witnessed his power. He's tall, but really thin. His skin is dark, and he has a large nose that curved like a beak. I guess that's why they call him the Blackbeak, apart from his powers of course._

"_You fight well," he said to me. "I think you will go far as a member of my crew."_

"_Not interested," I answered, silently gathering my powers into my right hand._

"_You have great power for a child," said Blackbeak. "With the right leader, you can make this world bow to your will. Everyone will fear your name. All you need to do is to bow to me and call me Captain."_

"_You're not the kind of person that I'd follow," I retorted. "I don't care if you massacre Marines, but I don't approve of the killing of innocents."_

_Blackbeak cackled._

"_Approve?" he repeated. "Do you think I need your approval? I am the Blackbeak. I do what I want, when I want, to whom I want. I can tear families apart if I wish, rape other men's wives if I want to and no one can do anything about it."_

"_What you do is wrong."I answered, angered at this guy's depravity. _

"_Wrong? I am a pirate," snapped the Demon. "There is no right or wrong. The strong stamp out the weak, that's the way of the pirate."_

"_Then you're just a sick, depraved old man," I snarled, really angry now._

"_Naive fool," cackled Blackbeak. "Who are you to speak to me so arrogantly?"_

_I was silent for a moment. Normally I would answer that my name is Edward Newgate, formerly of the Nautical Pirates. But for some reason, a different name floated into my head._

_One that Chip bestowed upon me in Baterilla._

"_I am Edward Newgate," I answered proudly. "I am the Whitebeard."_

_Blackbeak and his crew just laughed at me, but I wasn't touched by their laughter. It was as though the name that Chip granted to me was a talisman that shielded me from their scorn._

"_Well then, Whitebeard," said Blackbeak mockingly. "I am sure you know that I am Terrence the Blackbeak, one of the Three Demons. I am the strongest man in the world..."_

"_You are not," I snapped, making him scowl._

"_Oh, I'm not?" he said with cold laughter. "I suppose you are then?"_

_The fool just doesn't get it._

"_You are nothing but a coward," I said. "Only cowards attack the weak, where there is no one to challenge him. Those who are truly strong understand that there is no need to demonstrate their strength. They understand kindness, mercy and compassion. They fight only for what matters to them. That is why; the world's strongest man is not you. The world's strongest man is Greybeard." _

_At the mention of Greybeard, Blackbeak's face turned into an ugly shade of crimson. He hissed at me and I saw the darkness starting to flow from his arms, turning into gigantic dark wings._

"_Greybeard is nothing but an old fool!" spat Blackbeak. "He's an old man who thinks it's worthwhile to look after losers! He has no wealth, no power and doesn't even have a great pirate crew like I do!"_

"_Yet he is the most feared and respected man in the world," I answered calmly. "He doesn't go around terrorising hapless villagers like you do."_

_Blackbeak snarled and leapt forward at me. I swung my fist out at him and sent a powerful shockwave at him. The attack passed through him, but it took out a lot his crewmates who were standing behind him. He turned into the massive dark bird and swung a wing at me. I tried to cut the wing with Roy's bisento, but the blade just passed through it. _

_When the wing engulfed me...the feeling was...terrible. I felt like I was trapped in a dark void. I felt as though I was being crushed from all sides and even though I struggled with all my might, I couldn't break free. I felt despair like I never had._

_I heard Blackbeak's voice in my head, mocking me, taunting me, telling me how weak I was, how useless I was, what a fool I was for admiring Greybeard...how I would be worth nothing to anyone..._

_But in that despair, I realised something. I am worth something. Captain Jones, Roy, Goji, Cook and Kureha all thought I was worth something. Greybeard thought that I was worth saving. Mom and dad thought that I was worth something. Moulin, George and little Rouge though I was worth something. _

_That punk Roger thought I was a worthy rival._

_Chip thought that I was worth something._

_I remembered saying these words in that terrible darkness._

"_I am worth something. Don't think that you can tell me that I'm not, you overgrown chicken...I AM WHITEBEARD!"_

_As I shouted the last three words, the darkness dispelled and I fell onto my knees. Sweating, my head spinning, I looked up to see Blackbeak getting up as though he had been knocked down. The look on his face was one of absolute fury...though I thought there was hint of fear in that look as well._

"_How the hell did you get that power?" he snarled._

_I didn't know what he was talking about._

_Blackbeak got up and was about to attack again when we both noticed something odd. _

_Ashes were falling all around us. _

_I looked up and I saw an ash cloud floating above us. _

_Blackbeak also noticed and he was screaming in rage._

"_YOU!"_

_He was shrieking that at the ash cloud, for a moment I thought he'd lost his marbles._

_Then the ash cloud suddenly descended and turned into a ball that landed between us. It erupted on landing and I immediately covered my face to stop the ashes from choking me, but to my surprise, the ashes dispersed towards Blackbeak and his crewmates, choking them. _

_Blackbeak managed to break free and was glaring at the figure that had appeared from the ashes._

_Greybeard._

"_YOU!" shrieked Blackbeak again, turning into the bird and lunging at the old man with his beak. _

_The old man effortlessly blocked the hit with his broadsword. Blackbeak descended again but this time, the old man swung his sword fiercely at him. _

_Blackbeak shrieked and fell back, turning back into his human form. I noticed a long, bleeding cut across his chest._

"_Haiirorororo!" laughed Greybeard. "You shouldn't be picking on young, promising kids, Terrence!"_

"_Again and again you defend these pathetic losers, Greybeard!" snarled Blackbeak._

"_Pathetic losers, you say?" said Greybeard, grinning fiercely. "Maybe they are, but they are also the ones who'll carry the torch in future. We can't be the Demons forever you know."_

"_Again and again with your useless rhetoric!" shrieked Blackbeak, now completely beside himself with fury. "I don't know why you waste your time defending weaklings! I don't why they call you the strongest among the three of us, when you do nothing to show your strength!"_

_Greybeard's grin widened. "Would you like me to show you now then?"_

_That brought Blackbeak up short. He took a step back, glaring fiercely at the old man. His crew took up positions behind him, all getting ready to attack Greybeard._

"_Trying to gang up on one frail old man?" came a voice from behind Greybeard, and I saw Lat, sitting on the shoulder of his massive puppet, coming up behind the old man._

"_My, my," drawled the familiar voice of Shah the Sniper. "The Blackbeak Pirates sure have fallen far."_

"_Me SMASH if you touch old man," boomed the voice of Salim the Titan, his titanic form looming up from behind._

_One by one, the Greybeard Pirates popped out of nowhere to confront Blackbeak and his crew. _

_Blackbeak only hissed in fury, but seemed reluctant to attack, even though his crew outnumbered Greybeard's._

"_So, how about it, Terrence?" asked Greybeard. "Care to have a go?"_

_Blackbeak stared at the old man and spat at the ground before turning to leave. _

_After they were gone, Greybeard and his crew stayed on the island for awhile to help the villagers rebuild, though they ignored the Marines. _

_Anyway, what happened after that was, Greybeard asked if I would like to follow him into Grand Line since he was done touring South Blue._

_I accepted._

_Looks like I got my ticket into Grand Line. _

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So what do you guys think of Greybeard as a character?...just asking because he's going to be an important part of the plot from now on...and I'd like to develop him even further...thanks


	36. Chapter 36

Here are the next 3 chapters, sorry for the late update...been busy with work

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Day 36

_Tomorrow, the Greybeard Pirates and I will sail for Grand Line. We helped the village rebuild as much as we can for the past two days, but Greybeard doesn't want to tarry on the island for too long in case more Marines come to make a mess of things._

_Anyway, I heard a mother telling her children a story about Greybeard that I've never heard of before and trust me, I've heard a lot._

_It went like this:_

"_Greybeard was once a Marine Admiral and was good and just. He patrolled the seas, fighting pirates and kept it safe for us. One day however, Greybeard met an enemy the likes of which he never faced before. A terrible battle took place, one that resonated throughout the Four Blues and Grand Line itself. It is said that the battle caused islands to sink, mountains to crumble and tidal waves to rage across the world. The battle lasted three days and three nights before Greybeard, then known as Admiral Arden, emerged victorious, though it was dearly bought. His crew, the Marines who were under his command were all massacred in the battle and Greybeard himself suffered grievous wounds. It was said that the wounds from the battle and the loss of his subordinates drove the Admiral mad and he turned against the Navy. Greybeard murdered hundreds; some say thousands of Marines who resided in Marineford before escaping. He openly declared the World Government his enemy, and has since spent his life fighting it."_

_That's how it went more or less. The women was using a lot of big words and her kids kept stopping her halfway to ask her to explain words that they don't understand. _

_Greybeard, a former Marine Admiral?_

_Sounds kind of absurd, but maybe I should ask the old man about it._


	37. Chapter 37

_Day 37_

_We've left that island behind. It's been about two weeks of smooth sailing so far, and hopefully the weather will hold._

_Greybeard plans to sail through the Calm Belt again, he's planning to make a stop at an island there, though I wonder what kind of people would be brave/insane enough to live on island right in the nesting ground of Sea Kings. _

_I wanted to ask him about his past, but when I tried to bring up the subject, his normally sparkling and smiling eyes suddenly turned cold and steely. I could feel some sort of...some sort of aura coming off him and it nearly suffocated me. I hadn't dared ask him about it again._

_Instead, it was the first-mate, Lat who told me about it._

_Or rather, he tried to._

_He pulled me aside yesterday to tell me what he would, just so that I could avoid pissing Greybeard off._

"_So what do you know about Frank?" he asked me._

_I told him the story I heard back on the island. Lat frowned a little after I was done._

"_I guess the truth gets distorted over time," he said. "But that story got a few things right. Frank was an Admiral and he did massacre more than half the Marines at Marineford. But it wasn't because of some powerful enemy or because he was driven mad."_

"_So what made him do it?" I asked._

_Lat hesitated a moment, polishing his puppet's head._

"_Do you know why Frank is considered the most dangerous and powerful pirate in the world?" he asked me._

_I shrugged. I only knew that because that was everyone was saying. _

"_I guess anyone who could single-handedly wipe out half of the forces of Marineford would be considered dangerous," I said._

_Lat chuckled at that. "Yeah, while that is pretty grievous offense against the World Government, that was just a smoke-screen, it really did happen, but for different reasons."_

"_What reasons are those?" I asked impatiently._

"_What do you know about the Tenryuubito?" Lat asked._

"_Do you answer a question with a question all the time?" I growled irritably. _

_Lat chuckled again. "Mind your manners brat. I just love dragging out a good story."_

"_They're the World Nobles," I said, sighing, still not sure where this was going. "They're supposed to be descendents of the ones who founded the World Government and they've got a mean streak in them just because no one can mess with them without getting into some serious shit."_

"_Right," said Lat. "So I suppose you know what would happen if you mess with a Tenryuubito?"_

"_You know," I said, irritated with Lat for asking yet another question. "I've always wondered if your overgrown puppet can withstand my quake powers. Maybe I can find out right now?"_

_I clenched my right hand and red glow erupted around it, a low rumble emanated from within the glow, sounding like the beginnings of an earthquake._

_Lat laughed and raised his hands is a gesture of surrender. _

"_Alright, alright," he said good-naturedly. "Put that away."_

_I obeyed and Lat took in a deep breath._

"_As an Admiral, Frank could command just about every division of the Navy. He had one battalion of Marine serving directly under him, and they all looked up to him and he looked after them. Now, there was an orphan who lived in Marineford who wanted to join the Navy badly, but was repeatedly rejected. One day, Frank ran into the kid, who was trying to join again but was kicked out. Apparently, Frank was impressed by the kid's guts and took him in. The kid's name was Zhen. Anyway, Frank looked after the kid as though the kid was his own son and the kid made it into the Marines and over the years, grew stronger and rose in the ranks."_

_Lat stopped here to look at me. Suddenly, his face turned pale and he scurried away to other side of the ship._

_I suddenly felt an ominous chill behind me and turned to look. _

_It was Greybeard._

_He was looking at me with steely eyes without a single hint of the warmth they normally have._

"_Nosing around are you?" asked Greybeard coldly._

_Even though I was as tall as him, I felt so much smaller then. _

_Greybeard suddenly drew his broadsword._

"_What are you doing?" I asked nervously._

"_Since you want to nose into my past so much, I'll cut you a deal," growled the old man thunderously. "If you can beat me half to death, I'll tell you the story myself."_

_Before I could even respond, Greybeard swung his sword at me. I ducked as fast as I could, only to find the old man's boot planted right in my face, sending me flying back. _

_I recovered and saw Greybeard advancing on me. The old man was serious; there was murder in his eyes._

"_You'd better fight back, boy!" he snarled. "Or else I'm going to cut you up and feed you to the Sea Kings!"_

_I didn't have a choice; I took out Roy's bisento and swung at Greybeard at full strength. To my shock, the old man didn't even try to dodge it, but I was even more shocked when the bisento struck him, his body sort of broke into what looked like dust...or rather, ashes. _

_The ashes floated around before coming together to form back into Greybeard._

"_You really think you can wound me with a half-assed attack like?" spat Greybeard. "I ate the Haiiro Haiiro No Mi, a Logia. I'm an ash-man."_

_I tried thrusting the bisento through the old man, but again, the attack went through him. Greybeard reached out with left hand and suddenly, a hand made out of ashes flew at me, knocking me back._

_I suddenly realised that I had difficulty breathing. Greybeard was saying something, but I was too busy coughing and spluttering from the ashes to listen to him, anyway, I got the general idea of what he was saying. _

_His power chokes people to death._

_Desperate, I sent a shockwave at him. Greybeard simply dispersed into ashes when the shockwave hit him._

_The ashes flew at me, choking me again and in panic, I flailed my around with Roy's bisento but to no avail._

"_You're so weak, Newgate," I heard Greybeard hiss. He suddenly reappeared right in front of me and threw a powerful punch that knocked me off my feet._

_I couldn't get up, the power of his hits, his sheer savagery and ruthlessness in that one-sided fight completely overwhelmed me. _

_Greybeard stood over and just looked away dismissively._

_I think that hurt more than anything else._

"_Stupid brat," I heard him mutter. "Maybe that'll teach you to nose into other people's business."_

"_I still want to know," I managed to cough out through my own blood and ashes._

_Greybeard looked back at me, surprise on his face for just a brief second._

"_Like I said, you're going to have to beat it out of me, punk," snapped the old man._

_He looked around and suddenly shouted out. _

"_If any you tell him about it, you'd better be ready to run as fast and as far as you can!"_

_Greybeard disappeared into his quarters after that._

_A few minutes later, I found myself in the infirmary with Lat and Grunt. _

_Lat was sporting several savage bruises on his face and Grunt was treating us as best as he could, grunting irritably as he did._

"_Idiots," he grunted as he applied some ointment to Lat's bruises. "Why'd you have to piss Frank off?"_

_Lat shrugged. "Thought Frank would like to talk about it to somebody."_

_I was thinking then, about how terrifying Greybeard was at that time. It was so unlike his carefree and cheerful attitude. I realised my heart was still beating quickly in terror._

_Grunt noticed. _

"_Hey now," he said almost kindly. "Take some deep breaths. It's not every day I get to treat someone who's faced foul-mood Frank so don't go getting a heart attack on me now."_

_I asked him what he meant by that._

"_Anyone who's face Frank when he's in a bad mood normally doesn't live to tell the tale," answered Grunt bluntly as he checked my jaw._

"_I just can't believe that Greybeard could be so..." I struggled to find the proper word to describe it._

_Lat chuckled. _

"_Well, there's a reason he's one of the Three Demons, you know," he said. "And that's also why he's considered the most powerful and terrifying man to ever sail the sea. Consider yourself lucky."_

"_Why?" I asked as my pain shot through my jaw._

"_Well, he's clearly interested in telling you the story. You just have to get stronger to get it out of him," said Lat._

"_How would you know?" I asked._

"_Well, I've been sailing with him for over thirty years so I know him as well as anyone could," said Lat, chuckling. "And if he weren't interested in telling you, he would've just killed you."_

_Maybe I am lucky after all._


	38. Chapter 38

_Day 38_

_It's been about two weeks since that first confrontation with Greybeard._

_Two weeks of hell._

_Every time I'd show my face around Greybeard, the old man starts attacking me without warning. _

_I can't even land a hit, quake-powered or otherwise, on him. He just scatters into ashes, smothers me, hits me, taunts me and the whole damn cycle just repeats itself._

_I tried burning him, but certain types of ashes can smother flame or more can be produce by fire. In fact, I gave Greybeard a whole new of fire-ash combo arsenal. My moustache nearly got burned off in that incident._

_Towards the end of the two weeks, I ended being more defensive, and managed stop some of the old man's attacks. Occasionally I try to throw in a hit but I might as well just flip him off for all the good it's doing. _

_I've been thinking about how to get through the Ash Fruit's power. I mean, I was facing the same situation when I was fighting Blackbeak, he's powers ain't Logia, but it does have similar effects. I couldn't land a hit on him at all, but Greybeard was able to cut him._

_Why?_

_Is there another way to suppress Devil Fruit powers that I don't know about?_

_I'd ask Greybeard, but at the way he's going, it's more likely he'll cut my head off before I could even ask the question._

_Maybe one of the older crew members._

_Just maybe. _


End file.
